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HISTORY 



THE NETHERLANDS 



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THOMAS COLLEY GRATTAN 



NEW YORK: 
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS, 

TKANKLIN SQUARE. 

1855. 



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CONTENTS, 



CHAP. I 

B. C. 50.— A. D. 250. 



FROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO THE 
INVASION BY THE SALIAN FRANKS. 

Extent of the Kingdom,— Description of the People.— Ancient State of 
the Low Countries— Of the High Grounds— Contrasted with the pres- 
ent Aspect of the Country.— Expedition of Julius Caesar.— The Belgse. 
—The Menapians.—Batavians— Distinguished among the Auxiliaries 
of Rome— Decrease of national Feeling in Part of the Country. — 
Steady Patriotism of the Frisons and Menapians. — Commencement 
of Civilization.— Early Formation of the Dikes.— Degeneracy of those 
who became united to the Romans.— Invasion of the Netherlands by 
the Salian Franks Page 15 

CHAP. H 

250—800, 

FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OF PRIESLAND 
BY THE FRENCH. 

Character of the Franks.— The Saxon Tribes.— Destruction of the Sali- 
ans by a Saxon Tribe. — Julian the Apostate. — Victories of Clovis in 
Gaul. — Contrast between the Low Countries and the Provinces of 
France. — State of Friesland. — Charles Martel. — Friesland converted 
to Christianity — Finally subdued by France 22 

CHAP. III. 

800—1000. 

FROM THE CONQUEST OF FRIESLAND TO THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND. 

Commencement of the Feudal System in the Highlands.— Flourishing 
State of the Low Countries.— Counts of the Empire.— Formation of 
the Gilden or Trades. — Establishment of popular Privileges in Fries- 
land. — In what they consisted. — Growth of Ecclesiastical Power. — 
Baldwin of Flanders — Created Count. — Appearance of the Normans. 
—They ravage the Netherlands— Their Destruction— And final Dis- 
appearance. — Division of the Empire into Higher and Lower Lor- 
raine. — Establishment of the Counts of Lorraine and Hainault. — In- 
creasing Power of the Bishops of Liege and Utrecht. — Their Jealousy 
of the Counts ; who resist their Encroachments 28 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAP. IV. 

1018—1384. 

FROM THE FORMATION OP HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DE MALE. 

Origin of Holland.— Its first Count.— Aggrandizement of Flanders.— 
Its growing Commerce— Fisheries— Manufactures.— Formation of 
the County of Guelders— And of Brabant.— State of Friesland.— State 
of the Provinces.— The Crusades.— Their good Effects on the State of 
the Netherlands. — Decline of the Feudal Power — And Growth of the 
Influence of the Towns. — Great Prosperity of the Country. — The 
Flemings take up Arms against the French — Drive them out of Bru- 
ges — And defeat them in the Battle of Courtrai. — Popular Success in 
Brabant. — Its Confederation with Flanders. — Rebellion of Bruges 
against the Count — And of Ghent under James d'Artaveldt. — His Al- 
liance with England. — His Power — And Death. — Independence of 
Flanders. — Battle of Roosbeke. — Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 
obtains the Sovereignty of Flanders 36 

CHAP. V. 

1384—1506. 

FROM THE SUCCESSION OF PHILIP THE BOLD TO THE COUNTY OF FLANDERS 
TO THE DEATH OF PHILIP THE FAIR. 

''hilip succeeds to the Inheritance of Brabant.— Makes War on England 
as a French Prince — Flanders remaining neuter. — Power of the Houses 
of Burgundy and Bavaria — And Decline of public Liberty. — Union of 
Holland, Hainault, and Brabant. — Jacqueline Countess of Holland 
and Hainault — Flies from the Tyranny of her Husband, John of Bra- 
bant, and takes Refuge in England. — Murder of John the Fearless, 
Duke of Burgundy. — Accession of his Son, Philip the Good. — His 
Policy. — Espouses the Cause of John of Brabant against Jacqueline. — 
Deprives her of Hainault, Holland, and Zealand. — Continues his Per- 
secution, and despoils her of her last Possession and Titles. — She 
marries a Gentleman of Zealand — And dies. — Peace of Arras. — Do- 
minions of the House of Burgundy equal to the present Extent of the 
Kingdom of the Netherlands. — Rebellion of Ghent. — Affairs of Hol- 
land and Zealand. — Charles the Rash. — His Conduct in Holland. — 
Succeeds his Father. — Effects of Philip's Reign on the Manners of the 
People. — Louis XI. — Death of Charles, and Succession of 31ary. — 
Factions among her Subjects. — Marries Maximilian of Austria. — 
Battle of Guinegate. — Death of Mary. — Maximilian unpopular. — Im- 
prisoned by his Subjects. — Released. — Invades the Netherlands. — Suc- 
ceeds to the Imperial Throne by the Death of his Father.— Philip the 
Fair proclaimed Duke and Count.— His wise Administration.- Af- 
fairs of Friesland — Of Guelders.— Charles of Egmonc, — Death of 
Philip the Fair 49 

CHAP. VI. 

1506—1555. 

FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA TO THS ABDICATION 
OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 

Margaret of Austria invested with the Sovereignty.— Her Character and 
Government.— Charles, Son of Philip the Fair, created Duke of Bra- 



CONTENTS. Vil 

bant and Count of Flanders and Holland.— The Reformation.— Mar- 
tin Luther. — Persecution of the Reformers. — Battle of Pavia. — Ces- 
sion of Utrecht to Charles V. — Peace of Cambray. — The Anabaptists' 
Sedition at Ghent.— Expedition against Tunis and Algiers.— Charles 
becomes possessed of Friesland and Guelders. — His increasing Sever- 
ity against the Protestants.— His Abdication and Death.— Review.— 
Progress of Civilization 67 



CPAP. VII. 

1555—1566. 

FROM THE ACCESSION OF PHILIP II. OF SPAIN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS. 

Accession of Philip II.— His Character and Government.— His Wars 
with France, and with the Pope.— Peace with the Pope.— Battle of 
St. Ciuentin.— Battle of Gravelines.— Peace of Cateau-Cambresis.— 
Death of Mary of England.— Philip's Despotism.— Establishes a Pro- 
visional Government.— Convenes the States-General at Ghent.— His 
Minister Granvelle.— Goes to Zealand.— Embarks for Spain.— Pros- 
perity revives. — Effects of the Provisional Government. — Marguerite 
of Parma. — Character of Granvelle. — Viglius de Berlaimont. — De- 
parture of the Spanish Troops. — Clergy. — Bishops. — National Discon- 
tent. — Granvelle appointed Cardinal. — Edicts against Heresy.— Popu- 
lar Indignation. — Reformation. — State of Brabant. — Confederacy 
against Granvelle. — Prince of Orange. — Counts Egmont and Horn 
join the Prince against Granvelle. — Granvelle recalled. — Council of 
Trent. — Its Decrees received with Reprobation. — Decrees against Re- 
formers.— Philip's Bigotry.— Establishment of the Inquisition.— Popu- 
lar Resistance 77 



CHAP VIII. 

1566. 

COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Commencement of the Revolution.— Defence of the Prince of Orange. 
—Confederacy of the Nobles.— Louis of Nassau.— De Brederode. — 
Philip de St. Aldegonde.— Assembly of the Council of State.— Con- 
federates enter Brussels— Take the Title of Gueux—Cluit Brussels, 
and disperse in the Provinces.— Measures of Government.— Growing 
Power of the Confederates. — Progress of the Reformation. — Field- 
Preaching. — Herman Strieker. — Boldness of the Protestants. — Peter 
Dathen. — Ambrose Ville. — Situation of Antwerp. — The Prince re- 
pairs to it, and saves it. — Meeting of the Confederates at St. Trond. 
— The Prince of Orange and Count Egmont treat with them. — Ty- 
ranny of Philip and Moderation of the Spanish Council.— Image- 
Breakers. — Destruction of the Cathedral of Antwerp. — Terror of 
Government. — Firmness of Viglius. — Arbitration between the Court 
and the People. — Concessions made by Government. — Restoration of 
Tranquillity ,...,...-.....-,-.....-... 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAP. IX. 

1566—1573. 

TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF REQUESENS. 

Philip's Vindictiveness and Hypocrisy.— Progress of Protestantism. — 
Gradual Dissolution of the Conspiracy.— Artifices of Philip and the 
Court to disunite the Protestants. — Firmness of the Prince of Orange. 
— Conference at Termonde. — Egmont abandons the Patriot Cause. — 
Fatal Effects of his Conduct. — Commencement of Hostilities. — Siege of 
Valenciennes. — Protestant Synod at Antwerp. — Haughty Conduct of 
the Government. — Royalists repulsed at Bois-le-duc. — Battle of Oster- 
weel, and Defeat of the Patriots. — Antwerp again saved by the Firm- 
ness and Prudence of the Prince of Orange.— Capitulation of Valen- 
ciennes.— Success of the Royalists.— Death of De Brederode.— New 
Oath of Allegiance — Refused by the Prince of Orange and others. — 
The Prince resolves on voluntary Banishment, and departs for Ger- 
many. — His Example is followed by the Lords. — Extensive Emigra- 
tion. — Arrival of the Duke of Orleans. — Egmont's Humiliation. — 
Alva's Powers. — Arrest of Egmont and others. — Alva's first Acts of 
Tyranny.— Council of Blood.— Recall of the Government.— Alva's 
Character. — He summons the Prince of Orange, who is tried by Con- 
tumacy. — Horrors committed by Alva — Desolate State of the Country. 
—Trial and Execution of Egmont and Horn.— The Prince of Orange 
raises an Army in Germany, and opens his first Campaign in the 
Netherlands.— Battle of Heiligerlee.— Death of Adolphus of Nassau.— 
Battle of Jemminghem.— Success and skilful Conduct of Alva.— Dis- 
persion of the Prince of Orange's Army.— Growth of the naval Power 
of the Patriots.— Inundation in Holland and Friesland.— Alva re- 
proached by Philip.— Duke of Medina-Celi appointed Governor— Is 
attacked, and his Fleet destroyed by the Patriots — Demands his Re- 
call. — Policy of the English deeen, Elizabeth. — The Dutch take Brille. 
— General Revolt in Holland and Zealand.— New Expedition of the 
Prince of Orange. — Siege of Mons. — Success of the Prince. — Siege of 
Haerlem — Of Alkmaer. — Removal of Alva. — Don Luis Zanega y Re- 
quesens appointed Governor-General 109 

CHAP X. 

1573—1576. 

TO THE PACIFICATION OF GHENT. 

Character of Requesens.— His conciliating Conduct.— Renews the War 
against the States.— Siege of Middleburg.— Generosity of the Prince of 
Orange. — Naval Victory. — State of Flanders. — Count Louis of Nas- 
sau. — Battle of Mookerheyde. — Counts Louis and Henry slain. — Mu- 
tinyof the Spanish Troops. — Siege of Leyden. — Negotiations for Peace 
at Breda. — The Spaniards take Zuriczee. — Requesens dies. — The 
Government devolves on the Council of State. — Miserable State of the 
Country, and Despair of the Patriots. — Spanish Mutineers. — The 
States-General are convoked, and the Council arrested by the Grand 
Bailiff of Brabant. — The Spanish Mutineers sack and capture Maes- 

• stricht, and afterwards Antwerp.— The States-General assemble at 
Ghent and assume the Government. — The Pacification of Ghent. . . . 126 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAP. XI. 

1576—1580. 

TO THE RENONCIATION OP THE SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN AND THE DECLARATION 
OF INDEPENDENCE. 

Don John of Austria, Governor-General, arrives in the Netherlands. — 
His Character and Conduct. — The States send an Envoy to Elizabeth 
of England.— She advances them a Loan of Money.— The Union of 
Brussels.— The Treaty of Marche-en-Famenne, called the Perpetual 
Edict.— The impetuous Conduct of Don John excites the public Suspi- 
cion.— He seizes on the Citadel of Namur.— The Prince of Orange is 
named Protector of Brabant.— The People destroy the Citadels of Ant- 
werp and other Towns.— The Duke of Arschot is named Governor of 
Flanders.— He invites the Archduke Mathias to accept the Government 
of the Netherlands.— Wise Conduct of the Prince of Orange.— Ryhove 
and Hembyse possess themselves of supreme Power at Ghent.— The 
Prince of Orange goes there and establishes Order.— The Archduke 
Mathias is installed.— The Prince of Parma arrives in the Netherlands, 
and gains the Battle of Gemblours.- Confusion of the States-general. 
— The Duke of Alencon comes to their Assistance. — Dissensions among 
the Patriot Chiefs. — Death of Don John of Austria. — Suspicions of his 
having been poisoned by Order of Philip TI. — The Prince of Parma is 
declared Governor-General.— The Union of Utrecht.— The Prince of 
Parma takes the Field.— The Congress of Cologne rendered fruitless 
by the Obstinacy of Philip.— The States-General assemble at Antwerp, 
and issue a Declaration of National Independence.— The Sovereignty 
of the Netherlands granted to the Duke of Alencon 134 

CHAP. XH. 

1580—1584. 

TO THE MURDER OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 

Proscription of the Prince of Orange. — His celebrated Apology. — Philip 
proposes sending back the Duchess of Parma as Governant. — Her Son 
refuses to act jointly with her, and is left in the Exercise of his Power. 
— The Siege of Cambray undertaken by the Prince of Parma, and gal- 
lantly defended by the Princess of Epinoi. — The Duke of Alencon 
created Duke of Anjou. — Repairs to England, in hopes of marrying 
Q,ueen Elizabeth. — He returns to the Netherlands unsuccessful, and is 
inaugurated at Antwerp.— The Prince of Orange desperately wounded 
by an Assassin. — Details on John Jaureguay and his Accomplices. — 
The People suspect the French of the Crime. — Rapid Recovery of the 
Prince, who soon resumes his accustomed Activity. — Violent Con- 
duct of the Duke of Anjou, who treacherously attempts to seize on 
Antwerp. — He is defeated by the Towns-people. — His Disgrace and 
Death. — Ungenerous Suspicions of the People against the Prince of 
Orange, who leaves Flanders in Disgust. — Treachery of the Prince of 
Chimay and others. — Treason of Hembyse. — He is executed at Ghent. 
—The States resolve to confer the Sovereignty on the Prince of Orange. 
—He is murdered at Delft.— Parallel between him and the Admiral 
Coligny. — Execution of Balthazar Gerard, his Assassin. — Complicity 
of the Prince of Parma 144 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAP. XIII. 

1584—1592. 

TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER PRINCE OF PARMA. 

Effects of William's Death on the History of his Country. — Firm Conduct 
of the United Provinces. — They reject the Overtures of the Prince of 
Parma. — He reduces the whole of Flanders. — Deplorable Situation of 
the Country. — Vigorous Measures of the Northern States. — Antwerp 
besieged.— Operations of the Siege.— Immense Exertions of the Be- 
siegers.— The Infernal Machine.— Battle on the Dike of Couvestien.— 
Surrender of Antwerp. — Extravagant Joy of Philip II. — The United 
Provinces solicit the Aid of France and England. — Elizabeth sends 
them a supply of Troops under the Earl of Liecester.— He returns to 
England.— Treachery of some English and Scottish Officers.— Prince 
Maurice commences his Career.— The Spanish Armada.— Justin of 
Nassau blocks up the Prince of Parma in the Flemish Ports. — Ruin of 
the Armada. — Philip's Mock Piety on hearing the News. — Leicester 
dies. — Exploits and Death of Martin Schenck. — Breda surprised. — The 
Duke of Parma leads his Army into France. — His famous Retreat. — 
His Death and Character 154 

CHAP. XIV. 
1592—1599. 

TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF BELGIUM AND THE DEATH OF PHILIP 11. 

Count Mansfield named Governor-General.— State of Flanders and Bra- 
bant.— The Archduke Ernest named Governor-General.— Attempts 
against the Life of Prince Maurice. — He takes Groningen. — Death of 
the Archduke Ernest. — Count Fuentes named Governor-General. — He 
takes Cambray and other Towns.— Is soon replaced by the Archduke 
Albert of Austria. — His high Reputation. — He opens his first Campaign 
in the Netherlands.— His Successes.— Prince Maurice gains the Battle 
of Turnhout.— Peace of Vervins.— Philip yields the Sovereignty of the 
Netherlands to Albert and Isabella. — A new Plot against the Life of 
Prince Maurice. — Albert sets out for Spain, and receives the News of 
Philip's Death. — Albert arrives in Spain, and solemnizes his Marriage 
with the Infanta Isabella. — Review of the State of the Netherlands. . 168 

CHAP. XV. 
1599— 1C04. 

TO THE CAMPAIGN OF PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOLA. 

Cardinal Andrew of Austria Governor.— Francisco Mendoza, Admiral 
of Aragon, invades the neutral States of Germany. — His atrocious 
Conduct. — Prince Maurice takes the Field. — His masterly Movements 
— Sybilla of Cleves raises an Army, which is quickly destroyed.— 
Great Exertions of the States-General. — Naval Expedition under Van 
der Goes. — Its complete Failure. — Critical Situation of the United 
Provinces. — Arrival of the Archduke in Brussels. — Success of Prince 
Maurice. — His E.xpedition into Flanders. — Energy of the Archduke. 
— Heroism of Isabella. — Progress of Albert's Army. — Its first Success. 
—Firmness of Maurice.— The Battle of Nieuport.— Total Defeat of the 
Royalists.— Consequences of the Victory.— Prince Maurice returns to 



CONTENTS. Xi 

Holland.— Negotiations for Peace.— Siege of Ostend.— Death of Eliza- 
beth of England.— United Provinces send Ambassadors to James I.— 
Successful Negotiations of Barneveldt and the Duke of Sully in Lon- 
don.— Peace between England and Spain.— Brilliant Campaign be- 
tween Spinola and Prince Maurice.— Battle of Roeroord.— Naval 
Transactions.— Progress of Dutch Influence in India.— Establishment 
of the East India Company 177 

CHAP. XVI. 

1606-1619. 

TO THE SYNOD OF DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 

Spinola proposes to invade the United Provinces. — Successfully opposed 
by Prince Maurice. — The Dutch defeated at Sea. — Desperate Conduct 
of Admiral Klagoon. — Great naval Victory of the Dutch, and Death 
of their Admiral Heemskirk. — Overtures of the Archdukes for Peace. 
—How received in Holland.- Prudent Conduct of Barneveldt.— Nego- 
tiations opened at the Hague. — John de Neyen, Ambassador for the 
Archdukes. — Armistice for Eight Months. — Neyen attempts to bribe 
D'Aarsens, the Greffier of the States-General. — His Conduct disclaimed 
by Verreiken, Counsellor to the Archdukes. — Great Prejudices in Hol- 
land against King James I. and the English— And Partiality towards 
France.— Rupture of the Negotiations.— They are renewed.— Truce for 
Twelve Years signed at Antwerp. — Gives great Satisfaction in the 
Netherlands. — Important Attitude of the United Provinces. — Conduct 
of the Belgian Provinces. — Disputes relative to Cleves and Juliers. — 
Prince Maurice and Spinola remove their Armies into the contested 
States. — Intestine Troubles in the United Provinces. — Assassination 
of Henry IV. of France. — His Character.— Change in Prince Maurice's 
Character and Conduct. — He is strenuously opposed by Barneveldt. — 
Religious Disputes. — King James enters the Lists of Controversy.— 
Barneveldt and Maurice take opposite Sides. — The cautionary Tovnis 
released from the Possession of England. — Consequences of this Event. 
— Calumnies against Barneveldt. — Ambitious Designs of Prince Mau- 
rice. — He is baffled by Barneveldt. — The Republicassists its Allies with 
Money and Ships. — Its great naval Power. — Outrages of some Dutch 
Sailors in Ireland. — Unresented by King James. — His Anger at the 
manufacturing Prosperity of the United Provinces.— Excesses of the 
Gomarists. — The Magistrates call out the National Militia. — Violent 
Conduct of Prince 3Iaurice. — Uncompromising Steadiness of Barne- 
veldt. — Calumnies against him. — Maurice succeeds to the Title of 
Prince of Orange — And Acts with increasing Violence. — Arrest of 
Barneveldt and his Friends. — Synod of Dort. — Its Consequences. — 
Trial, Condemnation, and Execution of Barneveldt.— Grotius and 
Hoogerbeets sentenced to perpetual Imprisonment. — Ledenburg com- 
mits Suicide 189 

CHAP. xvn. 

1619—1625. 

TO THE DEATH OF PRINCE MAURICE. 

The Parties of Arminianism quite subdued. — Emigrations. — Grotius 
resolves to attempt an Escape from Prison. — Succeeds in his Attempt. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

—He repairs to Paris— And publishes his " Apology."— Expiration of 
the Twelve Years' Truce.— Death of Philip III. and of the Archduke 
Albert. — War in Germany.— Campaign between Prince Maurice and 
Spinola. — Conspiracy against the Life of Prince Maurice. — Its Failure. 
— Fifteen of the Conspirators executed. — ^Great Unpopularity of Mau- 
rice — Death of Maurice 207 



CHAP. XVIII. 

1625—1648. 

TO THE TREATY OF MUNSTER. 

Frederick Henry succeeds his Brother. — Charles I. King of England. — 
War between France and England. — Victories of Admiral Hein. — 
Brilliant Success of Frederick Henry. — Fruitless Enterprise in Flan- 
ders. — Death of the Archduchess Isabella. — Confederacy in Brabant. — 
Its Failure, and Arrest of the Nobles.— Ferdinand Prince-Cardinal 
Governor-General.— Treaty between France and Holland.— Battle of 
Avein.— Naval Affairs.— Battle of the Downs.— Van Tromp.— Nego- 
tiations for the Marriage of Prince William with the Princess Mary 
of England.— Death of the Prince-Cardinal.— Don Francisco de MeUo 
Governor-General. — B-attle of Rocroy. — Gallantry of Prince William. 
—Death of Cardinal Richelieu andof Louis XIII.— English Politics.— 
Affairs of Germany. — Negotiations for Peace. — Financial Embarrass- 
ment of the Republic. — The Republic negotiates with Spain. — Last 
Exploits of Frederick Henry. — His Death — And Character. — William 
II. Stadtholder. — Peace of Munster. — Resentment of Louis XIII. — 
Peace of Westphalia.— Review of the Progress of Art, Science, and 
Manners. — Literature. — Painting. — Engraving. — Sculpture. — Archi- 
tecture.— Finance.— Population.— Commercial Companies.— Manners. 215 

CHAP. XIX. 

1648—1678. 

FROM THE PEACE OF MUNSTER TO THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN. 

State of the Republic after the Peace of Munster.— State of England.— 
William II. Stadtholder. — His ambitious Designs and Violent Conduct. 
— Attempts to seize on Amsterdam. — His Death. — Different Sensations 
caused by his Death.— The Prerogatives of the Stadtholder assumed by 
the People.— Naval War with England.— English Act of Navigation. 
— Irish Hostilities. — Death of Tromp. — A Peace with England. — Dis 
turbed State of the Republic— War with Denmark.— Peace concluded. 
— Charles II. restored to the English Throne. — Declares War against 
Holland. — Naval Actions. — Charles endeavors to excite all Europe 
against the Dutch.— His Failure.— Renewed Hostilities.— De Ruyter 
defeated. — Peace of Breda. — Invasion of Flanders by Louis XIV. — He 
overruns Brabant and Flanders.— Triple League, 1668.— Perfidious 
Conduct of Charles II.— He declares War against Holland, <fcc. as does 
Louis XIV.— Unprepared State of United Provinces.— William III. 
Prince of Orange.— Appointed Captain-General and High Admiral.— 
Battle of Solebay.— The French invade the Republic— The States- 
General implore Peace. — Terms demanded by Louis XIV. — And by 
Charles II.— Desperation of the Dutch.— The Prince of Orange pro- 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

claimed Stadtholder.— Massacre of the De Witts.— Fine Conduct of 
the Prince of Orange.— He takes the Field.— Is reinforced by Spain, 
the Emperor, and Brandenburg.— Louis XIV. forced to abandon his 
Conquests.— Naval Actions with the English.— A Peace, 1674.— Mili- 
tary Affairs.— Battle of Senef.— Death of De Ruyter.— Congress for 
Peace at Nimeguen.— Battle of Mont Cassel.— Marriage of the Prince 
of Orange.— Peace of Nimeguen 230 

CHAP. XX. 

1678—1713. 

FROM THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 

State of Europe subsequently to the Peace of Nimeguen.— Arrogant 
Conduct of Louis XIV.— Truce for Twenty Years.— Death of Charles 
II. of England.— League of Augsbourg.— The Conduct of William.— 
He invades England.— James II. deposed.— William III. proclaimed 
King of England.— King William puts himself at the Head of the Con- 
federacy against Louis XIV,— And enters on the War.— Military 
Operations.— Peace of Ryswick.— Death of Charles II. of Spain.— War 
of Succession.— Death of William III.— His Character.— Duke of 
Marlborough.— Prince Eugene.— Successes of the Earl of Peterborough 
in Spain and Portugal.— Louis XIV. solicits Peace.— Conferences for 
Peace.— Peace of Utrecht.— Treaty of the Barrier 246 

CHAP. XXI. 

1713—1794. 

FROM THE PEACE OP UTRECHT TO THE INCORPORATION OF BELGIUM WITH 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 

Quadruple Alliance.— General Peace of Europe.— Wise Conduct of the 
Republic. — Great Danger from the bad State of the Dikes. — Death of 
the Emperor Charles VI. — Maria Theresa Empress. — Her heroic Con- 
duct.— Battle of Dettingen.— Louis XV. invades the Netherlands.— 
Conferences for Peace at Breda.— Battle of Fontenoy.— William IV. 
Stadtholder and Captain-General.— Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.— Death 
of the Stadtholder — Who is succeeded by his Son William V. — War of 
Seven Years. — State of the Republic. — William V. Stadtholder. — Dis- 
memberment of Poland. — Joseph II. Emperor. — His attempted Reforms 
in Religion. — War with England. — Sea-Fight on the Doggerbank. — 
Peace with England, 1784. — Progress of public Opinion in Europe — In 
Belgium — And Holland. — Vjolent Opposition to the Stadtholder. — 
Arrest of the Princess of Orange.— Invasion of Holland by the Prus- 
sian Army. — Agitation in Belgium. — Vander Noot. — Prince Albert of 
Saxe Teschen and the Archduchess Maria Theresa joint Governors- 
General.— Succeeded by Count Murray.— Riots.— Meetings of the Pro- 
visional States. — General Insurrection. — Vonckists. — Vander Mersch 
— Takes the Command of the Insurgents. — His Skilful Conduct. — He 
gains the Battle of Turnhout. — Takes Possession of Flanders. — Con- 
federation of the Belgian Provinces. — Death of Joseph II. — Leopold 
Emperor. — Arrest of Vander Mersch. — Arrogance of the States-Gene- 
ral of Belgium. — The Austrians over-run the Country. — Convention at 
the Hague.— Death of Leopold.— Battle of Jemmappes.— General Du- 



XIV CONTENTS. 

mouriez.— Conquest of Belgium by the French.— Recovered by the 
Austrians.— The Archduke Charles Governor-General.— War in the 
Netherlands.— Duke of York.— The Emperor Francis.— The Battle of 
Fleurus.— Incorporation of Belgium with the French Republic- 
Peace of Leoben.— Treaty of Campo-Formio 257 

CHAP XXII. 
1794—1813. 

FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE RETURN OF THE 
PRINCE OF ORANGE. 

Pichegru invades Holland. —Winter Campaign.— The Duke of York 
vainly resists the French Army. — Abdication of the Stadtholder. — Ba- 
tavian Republic. — War with England. — Unfortunate Situation of 
Holland.— Naval Fight.— English Expedition to the Helder.— Napoleon 
Bonaparte. — Louis Bonaparte named King of Holland. — His popular 
Conduct. — He abdicates the Throne. — Annexation of Holland to the 
French Empire — Ruinous to the Prosperity of- the Republic. — The 
People desire the Return of the Prince of Orange. — Confederacy to ef- 
fect this Purpose. — The Allied Armies advance towards Holland. — 
The Nation rises to throw off the Yoke of France.— Count Styrum 
and his Associates lead on that Movement — And proclaim the Prince 
of Orange — Who lands from England. — His first Proclamation. — His 
second Proclamation 269 

CHAP. XXIII. 
1813—1815. 

FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCE-SOVEREIGN OF THE 
NETHERLANDS TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 

Rapid Organization of Holland.— The Constitution formed —Accepted 
by the People. — Objections made to it by some Individuals. — Inaugu- 
ration of the Prince-Sovereign.— Belgium is occupied by the Allies. — 
Treaty of Paris. — Treaty of London. — Formation of the Kingdom of 
the Netherlands.— Basis of the Government.— Relative Character and 
Situation of Holland and Belgium.— The Prince-Sovereign of Holland 
arrives in Belgium as Governor-General. — The fundamental Law. — 
Report of the Commissioners by whom it was framed. — Public Feeling 
in Holland — And in Belgium. — The Emperor Napoleon invades France 
—And Belgium.— The Prince of Orange takes the Field.— The Duke 
of Wellington.— Prince Blucher.— Battle of Ligny— Battle of auatre 
Bras.— Battle of Waterloo.— Anecdote of the Prince of Orange— Who 
is wou ided.— Inauguration of the King 282 



HISTORY 

OF 

THE NETHERLANDS. 



CHAP. I. 
B. c* 50— A. D. 250. 

FROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO 
THE INVASION BY THE SALIAN FRANKS. 

The Netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, 
situated on the borders of the ocean, opposite to the south- 
east coast of England, and stretching from the frontiers of 
France to those of Hanover. The country is principally- 
composed of low and humid grounds, presenting a vast plain, 
irrigated by the waters from all those neighboring states 
which are traversed by the Rhine, the Meuse, and the 
Scheldt. This plain, gradually rising towards its eastern and 
southern extremities, blends on the one hand with Prussia, 
and on the other with France. Having, therefore, no natural 
or strongly marked limits on those sides, the extent of the 
kingdom could only be determined by convention ; and it must 
be at all times subject to the arbitrary and varying influence 
of European policy. Its greatest length, from north to south, 
is about 220 English miles; and its breadth, from east to 
west, is nearly 140. 

Two distinct kinds of men inhabit this kingdom ; the one 
occupying the valleys of the Meuse and the Scheldt, and the 
high grounds bordering on France, speak a dialect of the 
language of that country, and evidently belong to the Gallic 
race. They are called Walloons, and are distinguished from 
the others by many peculiar qualities. Their most prominent 
characteristic is a propensity for war, and their principal source 
of subsistence the working of their mines. They form nearly 
one fourth of the population of the whole kingdom, or about 
1,300,000 persons. All the rest of the nation speak Low 
German, in its modifications of Dutch and Flemish ; and they 
offer the distinctive characteristics of the Saxon race, — 
talents for agriculture, navigation, and commerce ; perseve- 
rance rather than vivacity ; and more courage than taste for 
the profession of arms. They are subdivided into Flemings, 



16 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 

— ^those who were the last to submit to the house of Austria ; 
and Dutch, — those who formed the republic of the United 
Provinces. But there is no difference between these two 
subdivisions, except such as has been produced by political 
and religious institutions. The physical aspect of the people 
is the same ; and the soil, equally low and moist, is at once 
fertilized and menaced by the waters. 

The history of this last-mentioned portion of the nation is 
completely linked to that of the soil which they occupy. In 
remote tunes, when the inhabitants of this plain were few 
and uncivilized, the country formed but one immense morass, 
of which the chief part was incessantly inundated and made 
sterile by the waters of the sea, Pliny the naturalist, who 
visited the northern coasts, has left us a picture of their state 
m his days. " There," says he, " the ocean pours in its flood 
twice every day, and produces a perpetual uncertainty whe- 
ther the coimtry may be considered as a part of the continent 
or of the sea. The wretched mhabitants take refuge on the 
sand-hills, or in httle huts, which they construct on the sum- 
mits of lofty stakes, whose elevation is conformable to that of 
the highest tides. When the sea rises, they appear like 
navigators ; when it retires, they seem as though they had 
been shipwrecked. They subsist on the fish left by the 
refluent waters, and which they catch in nets formed of 
rushes or sea-weed. Neither tree nor shrub is visible on 
these shores. The drink of the people is rain-water, which 
they preserve with great care ; their fuel, a sort of turf, 
which they gather and form with the hand. And yet these 
unfortunate beings dare to complain against their fate, when 
they fall under the power and are incorporated with the 
empire of Rome !"* 

The picture of poverty and suffering which this passage 
presents, is heightened when joined to a description of the 
country. The coasts consisted only of sand-banks or slime, 
alternately overflowed or left imperfectly dry. A little 
farther inland, trees were to be found, but on a soil so marshy 
that an inundation or a tempest threw down whole forests, 
such as are still at times discovered at either eight or ten feet 
depth below the surface. The sea had no limits ; the rivers 
no beds nor banks ; the earth no solidity — for, according to an 
author of the third century of our era, there was not, in the 
whole of the immense plain, a spot of ground that did not 
yield under the footsteps of man.f 

It was not the same in the southern parts, which form at 

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xvi. t Bumenius, Paneg. Const. Ca3s. 



EARLY STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 17 

present the Walloon country. These high grounds suffered 
much less from the ravages of the waters. The ancient 
forest of the Ardennes, extending from the Rhine to the 
Scheldt, sheltered a numerous though savage population, 
which in all things resembled the Germans, from whom they 
derived their descent. The chase and the occupations of 
rude agriculture sufficed for the wants of a race less poor and 
less patient, but more unsteady and ambitious, than the fish- 
ermen of the low lands. Thus it is that history presents us 
with a tribe of warriors and conquerors on the southern fron- 
tier of the country; while the scattered inhabitants of the 
remaining parts seemed to have 'fixed there without a con- 
test, and to have traced out for themselves, by necessity and 
habit, an existence which any other people must have con- 
sidered insupportable. 

This difference in the nature of the soil and in the fate of 
the inhabitants appears more striking, when we consider the 
present situation of the country. The high grounds, formerly 
so preferable, are now the least valuable part of the kingdom, 
even, as regards their agriculture ; while the ancient marshes 
have been changed by human industry into rich and fertile 
tracts, the best parts of which are precisely those conquered 
from the grasp of the ocean. In order to form an idea of the 
solitude and desolation which once reigned where we now 
see the most richly cultivated fields, the most thriving vil- 
lages, and the wealthiest towns of the continent, the imagina- 
tion must go back to times which have not left one monument 
of antiquity and scarcely a vestige of fact. 

The history of the Netherlands is, then, essentially that of 
a patient and industrious population struggling against every 
obstacle which nature could oppose to its well-being ; and, in 
this contest, man triumphed most completely over the ele- 
ments in those places where they offered the greatest resist- 
ance. This extraordinary result was due to the hardy stamp 
of character imprinted by suffering and danger on those who 
had the ocean for their foe ; to the nature of their country, 
which presented no lure for conquest ; and, finally, to the tol- 
eration, the justice, and the liberty nourished among men 
left to themselves, and who found resources in their social 
state which rendered change neither an object of their wants 
nor wishes. 

About half a century before the Christian era, the obscurity 
which enveloped the north of Europe began to disperse ; and 
the expedition of Julius Csesar gave to the civilized world the 
first notions of the Netherlands, Germany, and England. 
CcEsar, afler having subjugated the chief part of Gaul, turned 



18 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 

his arms against the warlike tribes of the Ardennes, who re- 
fused to accept his alliance or implore his protection. They 
were called Belgae by the Romans ; and at once pronounced 
the least civilized and the bravest of the Gauls. Csesar there 
found several ignorant and poor but intrepid clans of war- 
riors, who marched fiercely to encounter him ; and, notwith- 
standing their inferiority in numbers, in weapons, and in 
tactics, tliey nearly destroyed the disciplined armies of Rome. 
They were, however, defeated, and their country ravaged by 
the invaders, who found less success when they attacked the 
natives of the low grounds. The Menapians, a people who 
occupied the present provinces of Flanders and Antwerp, 
though less numerous than those whom the Romans had last 
vanquished, arrested their progress both by open fight and 
by that petty and harassing contest, — that warfare of the 
people rather than of the soldiery, — so well adapted to the 
nature of the country. The Roman legions retreated for 
the first time, and were contented to occupy the higher parts, 
which now form the Walloon provinces."*" 

But the policy of Csesar made greater progress than his 
arms. He had rather defeated than subdued those who had 
dared the contest. He consolidated his victories without 
new battles ; he offered peace to his enemies, in proposing to 
them alliance ; and he required their aid, as friends, to carry 
on new wars in other lands. He thus attracted towards him, 
and ranged under his banners, not only those people situated 
to the west of the Rhine and the Meuse, but several other 
nations more to the north, whose territory he had never seen ; 
and particularly the Batavians — a valiant tribe, stated by va- 
rious ancient authors, and particularly by Tacitus, as a frac- 
tion of the Caiti, who occupied the space comprised between 
these rivers.f The young men of these warlike people, 
dazzled by the splendor of the Roman armies, felt proud and 
happy in being allowed to identify themselves with them. 
Caesar encouraged this disposition, and even went so far on 
some occasions as to deprive the Roman cavalry of their 
horses, on whicli he mounted those new allies, who managed 
them better than their Italian riders. He had no reason to 
repent these measures : almost all his subsequent victories, 
and particularly that of Pharsalia, being decided by the valor 
of the auxiliaries he obtained from the Low Countries.}: 

These auxiliaries were chiefly drawn from Hainault, Lux- 



* Caesar, Comm. de Bell. Gall. Dio. Cass. lib. Iv. 
+ Berlier, Prec. Hist, de I'Ancienne Gaule. 
t Des Roches, Hist, de la Belgique. 



EFFECTS OF THE ROMAN ALLIANCE. 19 

embourg, and the country of the Batavians, and they formed 
the best cavalry of the Roman armies, as well as their 
choicest light infantry force. The Batavians also signalized 
themselves on many occasions, by the skill with which they 
swam across several great rivers without breaking their 
squadrons' ranks. They were amply rewarded for their 
military services and hazardous exploits, and were treated 
like staunch and valuable allies. But this unequal connexion 
of a mighty empire with a few petty states must have been 
fatal to the liberty of the weaker party. Its first effect was 
to destroy all feeling of nationality in a great portion of the 
population. The young adventurer of this part of the Low 
Countries, after twenty years of service under the imperial 
eagles, returned to his native wilds a Roman. The generals 
of the empire pierced the forests of the Ardennes with cause- 
ways, and founded towns in the heart of the country. The 
result of such innovations was a total amalgamation of the 
Romans and their new allies ; and little by little the national 
character of the latter became entirely obliterated. But to 
trace now the precise history of this gradual change would 
be as impossible as it will be one day to follow the progress 
of civilization in the woods of North America. 

But it must be remarked, that this metamorphosis affected 
only the inhabitants of the high grounds, and the Batavians 
(who were in their origin Germans) properly so called. The 
scanty population of the rest of the country, endowed with 
that fidelity to their ancient customs which characterizes the 
Saxon race, showed no tendency to mix with foreigners, 
rarely figured in their ranks, and seemed to revolt from the 
southern refinement which was so little in harmony with 
their manners and ways of life. It is astonishing, at the first 
view, that those beings, whose whole existence was a contest 
against famine or the waves, should show less inclination 
than their happier neighbors to receive from Rome an abun- 
dant recompense for their services. But, the greater their 
difficulty to find subsistence in their native land, the stronger 
seemed their attachment ; like that of the Switzer to his 
barren rocks, or of the mariner to the frail and hazardous 
home that bears him afloat on the ocean. This race of patriots 
was divided into two separate people. Those to the north of 
the Rhine were the Frisons ; those to the west of the Meuse 
the Menapians, already mentioned. 

The Frisons differed little from those early inhabitants of 
the coast, who, perched on their high-built huts, fed on fish 
and drank the water of the clouds. Slow and successive im- 
provements taught them to cultivate the beans which grew 



20 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 

wild among the marshes, and to tend and feed a small and 
degenerate breed of horned cattle. But if these first steps 
towards civilization were slow, they were also sure ; and they 
were made by a race of men who could never retrograde in a 
career once begun. 

The Menapians, equally repugnant to foreign impressions, 
made, on their parts, a more rapid progress. They were 
already a maritime people, and carried on a considerable 
commerce with England. It appears that they exported 
thither salt, the art of manufacturing which was well known 
to them ; and they brought back in return marl, a most im- 
portant commodity for the improvement of their land. They 
also understood the preparation of salting meat, with a per- 
fection that made it in high repute even in Italy ; and, finally, 
we are told by Ptolemy that they had established a colony on 
the eastern coast of Ireland, not far from Dublin.* 

The two classes of what forms at present the population of 
the Netherlands thus followed careers widely different, during 
the long period of the Roman power in these parts of Europe. 
While those of the' high lands and the Batavians distinguished 
themselves by a long-continued course of military service or 
servitude, those of the plains improved by degrees their 
social condition, and fitted themselves for a place in civilized 
Europe. The former received from Rome great marks of 
favor in exchange for their freedom. The latter, rejecting 
the honors and distinctions lavished on their neighbors, 
secured their national independence, by trusting to their 
industry alone for all the advantages they gradually acquired. 

Were the means of protecting themselves and their country 
from the inundations of the sea known and practised by these 
ancient inhabitants of the coast ] or did they occupy only 
those elevated points of land which stood out like islands in 
the middle of the floods ] These questions are amongst the 
most important presented by their history ; since it was the 
victorious struggle of a man against the ocean that fixed the 
extent and form of the country. It appears almost certain, 
that in the time of Csesar they did not labor at the construc- 
tion of dikes, but that they began to be raised during the 
obscurity of the following century ; for the remains of ancient 
towns are even now discovered in places at present over- 
flowed by the sea. These ruins often bring to light traces of 
Roman construction, and Latin inscriptions in honor of the 
Menapian divinities.f It is, then, certain that they had 
learned to imitate those who ruled in the neighboring coun- 

* Des Roches. t Miiraoires de 1' Academic de Middlebourg. 



EFFECTS OF THE ROMAN ALLIANCE. 21 

tries: a result by no means surprising; for even England, 
the mart of their commerce, and the nation with which thej 
had the most constant intercourse, was at that period occu 
pied by the Romans. But the nature of their country repulsed 
so effectually every attempt at foreign domination, that the 
conquerors of the world left them unmolested, and established 
arsenals and formed communications with Great Britain only 
at Boulogne and in the island of the Batavians near Leyden. 

This isolation formed in itself a powerful and perfect bar- 
rier between the inhabitants of the plain and those of the 
high grounds. The first held firm to their primitive customs 
and their ancient language : the second finished by speaking 
Latin, and borrowing all the manners and usages of Italy. 
The moral effect of this contrast was, that the people, once 
so famous for their bravery, lost, with their liberty, their 
energy and their courage. One of the Batavian chieftains, 
named Civilis, formed an exception to this degeneracy, and, 
about the year 70 of our era, bravely took up arms for the 
expulsion of the Romans. He effected prodigies of valor 
and perseverance, and boldly met and defeated the enemy 
both by land and sea. Reverses followed his first success, 
and he finally concluded an honorable treaty, by which his 
countrymen once more became the allies of Rome. But 
after this expiring effort of valor, the Batavians, even though 
chosen from all nations for the body-guards of the Roman 
emperors, became rapidly degenerate; and when Tacitus 
wrote, ninety years after Christ, they were already looked 
on as less brave than the Frisons and the other people beyond 
the Rhine.* A century and a half later saw them con- 
founded with the Gauls; and the barbarian conquerors said, 
that " they were not a nation, but merely a prey^^ 

Reduced into a Roman province, the southern portion of 
the Netherlands was at this period called Belgic Gaul ; and 
the name of Belgium, preserved to our days, has until lately 
been applied to distinguish that part of the country situated 
to the south of the Rhine and the Mouse, or nearly that 
which formed the Austrian Netherlands. 

During the establishment of the Roman power in the 
north of Europe, observation was not much excited towards 
the rapid effects of this degeneracy, compared with the fast- 
growing vigor of the people of the low lands. The fact of 
the Frisons having, on one occasion, near the year 47 of our 
era, beaten a whole army of Romans, had confirmed their 
character for intrepidity. But tlie long stagnation produced 

* Tacitus de Mor, Germ. t Tacit, lib. iv. 



22 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 

in these remote countries by the colossal weig-ht of the em- 
pire, was broken, about the year 250, by an irruption of Ger- 
mans or Salian Franks, who, passing- the Rhine and the 
Mouse, established themselves in the vicinity of the Mena- 
pians, near Antwerp, Breda, and Bois-le-duc. All the nations 
that had been subjug-ated by the Roman power appear to 
have taken arms on this occasion and opposed the intruders. 
But the Menapians united themselves with these new-comers, 
and aided them to meet the shock of the imperial armies. 
Carausius, originally a Menapian pilot, but promoted to the 
command of a Roman fleet, made common cause with his 
fellow-citizens, and proclaimed himself emperor of Great 
Britain, where the naval superiority of the Menapians left 
him no fear of a competitor. In recompense of the assistance 
g-iven him by the Franks, he crossed the sea again from his 
new empire, to aid them in their war with the Batavians, the 
allies of Rome ; and having seized on their islands, and mas- 
sacred nearly the whole of its inhabitants, he there estab- 
lished his faithful friends the Salians. Constantius and hist 
son Constantino the Great vainly strove, even after the death 
of the brave Carausius, to regain possession of the country : 
but they were forced to leave the new inhabitants in quiet 
possession of their conquest. 



CHAP. n. 

250—800. 

FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OP 
FRIESLAND. 

From this epoch we must trace the progress of a totally 
new and distinct population in the Netherlands. The Bata- 
vians being annihilated, almost without resistance, the low 
countries contained only the free people of the German race. 
But these people did not completely sympathize together so 
as to form one consolidated nation. The Salians, and the 
other petty tribes of Franks, their allies, were essentially 
warlike, and appeared precisely the same as the original 
inhabitants of the high grounds. The Menapians and the 
Frisons, on the contrary, lost nothing of their spirit of com- 
merce and industry. The result of this diversity was a separa- 



CHARACTER OF THE FRANKS. 23 

tion between the Franks and the Menapians. While the 
latter, under the naxne of Armoricans, joined themselves 
more closely with the people who bordered the Channel,* 
the Frisons associated themselves with the tribes settled on 
the limits of the German Ocean, and formed with them a 
connexion celebrated mider the title of the Saxon League.f 
Thus was formed on all points a union between the maritime 
races against the inland inhabitants ; and their mutual an- 
tipathy became more and more developed, as the decline of 
the Roman empire ended the former struggle between liberty 
and conquest. 

The Netherlands now became the earliest theatre of an 
entirely new movement, the consequences of which were 
destined to affect the whole world. This coimtry was occu- 
pied towards the sea by a people wholly maritime, excepting 
the narrow space between the Rhine and the Vahal, of which 
the Salian Franks had become possessed. The nature of this 
marshy soil, in comparison with the sands of Westphalia, 
Guelders, and North Brabant, was not more strikingly con- 
trasted than was the character of their population. The 
Franks, who had been for awhile under the Roman sway, 
showed a compound of the violence of savage life and the cor- 
ruption of civilized society. They were covetous and treach- 
erous, but made excellent soldiers ; and at this epoch, which 
intervened between the power of imperial Rome and that of 
Germany, the Frank might be morally considered as a bor- 
derer on the frontiers of the middle ages.| The Saxon (and 
this name comprehends all the tribes of the coast from the 
Rhine as far north as Denmark,) miiting in himself the dis- 
tinctive qualities of German and navigator, was moderate 
and sincere, but implacable in his rage. Neither of these 
two races of men were excelled in pomt of courage ; but the 
number of Franks who still entered into the service of the 
empire diminished the real force of this nation, and naturally 
tended to disunite it. Therefore, in the subsequent shock of 
people against people, the Saxons mvariably gained the final 
advantage. 

They had no doubt often measured their strength m the 
most remote times, since the Franks were but the descend- 
ants of the ancient tribes of Sicambers and others, against 
whom the Batavians had offered their assistance to Csesar. 
Under Augustus, the inhabitants of the coast had in the same 
way joined themselves witli Drusus, to oppose these their old 

* Procop. de Bell. Goth. t Van Loon, Alonde Hist. 

J Scriptores Minorum CBBSarura, passim. 



24 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 490. 

enemies. It was also after having- been expelled by the 
Frisons from Gu elders, that the Salians had passed the Rhine 
and the Mouse ; but, in the fourth century, the two people 
recovering their strength, the struggle recommenced, never 
to terminate — at least between the direct descendants of 
each. It is believed that it was the Varni, a race of Saxons 
nearly connected with those of England, (and coming, like 
them, from the coast of Denmark,) who on this occasion struck 
the decisive blow on the side of the Saxons. Embarking on 
board a numerous fleet, they made a descent in the ancient 
isle of the Batavians, at that time inhabited by the Salians, 
whom they completely destroyed.* Julian the Apostate, who 
was then with a numerous army pursuing his career of early 
glory in these countries, interfered for the purpose of pre- 
venting the expulsion, or at least the utter destruction, of the 
vanquished: but his efforts were unavailing. The Salians 
appear to have figured no more in this part of the Low Coun- 
tries. 

The defeat of the Salians by a Saxon tribe is a fact on 
which no doubt rests. The name of the victors is, however, 
questionable.! The Varni having remained settled near the 
mouths of the Rhine till near the year 500, there is strong 
probability that they were the people alluded to. But names 
and histories, which may on this point appear of such little 
importance, acquire considerable interest when we reflect 
that these Salians, driven from their settlement, became the 
conquerors of France ; that those Saxons who forced them on 
their career of conquest were destined to become the masters 
of England ; and that these two petty tribes, who battled so 
long for a corner of marshy earth, carried with them their 
reciprocal antipathy while mvoluntarily deciding the destiny 
of Europe. 

The defeat of the Franks was fatal to those people who 
had become incorporated with the Romans ; for it was from 
them that the exiled wanderers, still fierce in their ruin, and 
with arms in their hands, demanded lands and herds ; all, in 
short, which they themselves had lost. From the middle of 
the fourth century to the end of the fifth, there was a succes- 
sion of invasions in this spirit, which always ended by the 
subjugation of a part of the country ; and which was com- 
pleted about the year 490, by Clovis making himself master 
of almost the whole of Gaul.| Under this new empire not a 
vestige of the ancient nations of the Ardennes was left. The 

* Gibbon, ii. 370. t Zosimus. 

J Abr6ge Cliron. Hist, de France. 



700. PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH. 25 

civilized population either perislied or was reduced to slavery, 
and all the high grounds were added to the previous con- 
quests of the Salians. 

But the maritime population, when once possessed of the 
whole coast, did not seek to make the slightest progress to- 
wards the interior The element of their enterprise and the 
object of their ambition was the ocean ; and when this hardy 
and intrepid race became too numerous for their narrow lim- 
its, expeditions and colonies beyond the sea carried off their 
redundant population. The Saxon warriors established them- 
selves near the mouths of the Loire ; others, conducted by 
Hengist and Horsa, settled in Great Britain, It will always 
remain problematical from what point of the coast these ad- 
venturers departed ; but many circumstances tend to give 
weight to the opinion which pronounces those old Saxons to 
have started from the Netherlands. 

Paganism not being yet banished from these countries, the 
obscurit)?- which would have enveloped them is in some de- 
gree dispelled by the recitals of the monks who went among 
them to preach Christianity. We see in those records, and 
by the text of some of their early laws, that this maritime 
people were more industrious, prosperous, and happy, than 
those of France.* The men were handsome and richly 
clothed; and the land well cultivated, and abounding in 
fruits, milk, and honey. The Saxon merchants carried their 
trade far into the southern countries. In the mean time, the 
parts of the Netherlands which belonged to France resembled 
a desert. The monasteries which were there founded were 
established, according to the words of their charters, amidst 
immense solitudes; and the French nobles only came into 
Brabant for the sport of bear-hunting in its interminable 
forests. Thus, while the inhabitants of the low lands, as far 
back as the light of history penetrates, appear in a continual 
state of unprovement, those of the high grounds, after fre- 
quent vicissitudes, seem to sink into utter degeneracy and 
subjugation. The latter wished to denaturalize themselves, 
and become as though they were foreigners even on their 
native soil ; the former remained firm and faithful to their 
country and to each other. 

But the growth of French power menaced utter ruin to 
this interesting race. Clovis had succeeded, about the year 
485 of our era, in destroying the last remnants of Roman 
domination in Gaul. The successors of these conquerors soon 
extended their empire from the Pyrenees to the Rhine. They 

* Acta Sanct. Belgii. 



26 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 710. 

had continual contests with the free population of the Low 
Countries and their nearest neighbors. In the commence- 
ment of the seventh century, the French king Clotaire II. 
exterminated the chief part of the Saxons of Hanover and 
Westphalia ; and the historians of those barbarous times unani- 
mously relate that he caused to be beheaded every inhabitant 
of the vanquished tribes who exceeded the height of his 
sword.* . The Saxon name was thus nearly extinguished in 
those countries ; and the remnant of these various people adopted 
that of Frisons (Friesen,) either because they became really 
incorporated with that nation, or merely that they recognized 
it for the most powerful of their tribes. Friesland, to speak 
in the language of that age, extended then from the Scheldt 
to the Weser, and formed a considerable state. But the as- 
cendency of France was every year becoming more marked ; 
and king Dagobert extended the limits of her power even as 
far as Utrecht. The descendants of the Menapians, known 
at that epoch by the different names of Menapians, Flemings, 
and Toxandrians, fell one after another directly or indirectly 
under the empire of the Merovingian princes ; and the noblest 
family which existed among the French, — that which subse- 
quently took the name of Carlovingians, — comprised in its 
dominions nearly the whole of the southern and western parts 
of the Netherlands. 

Between this family, whose chief was called duke of the 
Frontier Marshes, (Dux BrabanticB,) and the free tribes, 
united under the common name of Frison-s, the same struggle 
was maintained as that which formerly existed between the 
Salians and the Saxons. Towards the year 700, the French 
monarchy was torn by anarchy, and, under " the lazy kings," 
lost much of its concentrated power ; but every dukedom 
formed an independent sovereignty, and of all those that of 
Brabant was the most redoubtable. Nevertheless the Fri- 
sons, under their king Radbod, assumed for a moment the su- 
periority; and Utrecht, where the French had established 
Christianity, fell again into the power of the pagans. Charles 
Martel, at that time young, and but commencing his splendid 
career, was defeated by the hostile king in the forest of the 
Ardennes ; and though, in subsequent conquests, he took an 
ample revenge, Radbod still remained a powerful opponent. 
It is related of this fierce monarch, that he was converted by 
a Christian missionary ; but, at the moment in which he put 
his foot in the water for the ceremony of baptism, he suddenly 
asked the priest, where all his old Frison companions in arms 

* Van Loon, Alonde Hist. 



719. FINAL CONaUEST OP PRIESLAND. 27 

had g-one after their death 7 " To hell," replied the priest. 
" Well, then," said Radbod, drawing back his foot from the 
water, " I would rather go to hell with them, than to paradise 
with you and your fellow foreigners ! " and he refused to re- 
ceives the rites of baptism, and remained a pagan.* 

After the death of Radbod, in 719, Charles Martel, now 
become duke of the Franks, mayor of the palace, or by what- 
ever other of his several titles he may be distinguished, finally 
triumphed over the long-resisting Frisons. He labored to 
establish Christianity among them ; but they did not under- 
stand the French language, and the lot of converting them 
was consequently reserved for the English. St. Willebrod 
was the first missionary who met with any success, about the 
latter end of the seventh century ; but it was not till towards 
the year 750 that this great mission w^as finally accomplish- 
ed, by St. Boniface, archbishop of Mayence, and the apostle 
of Germany, Yet the progress of Christianity, and the estab- 
lishment of a foreign sway, still met the partial resistance 
which a conquered but not enervated people are always capa- 
ble of opposing to their masters. St. Boniface fell a victim 
to this stubborn spirit. He perished a martyr to his zeal, but 
perhaps a victim as well to the violent measures of his col- 
leagues, in Friesland, the very province which to this day 
preserves the name. 

The last avenger of Friesland liberty and of the national 
idols was the illustrious Witikind, to whom the chronicles of 
his country give the title of first azing, or judge. This in- 
trepid chieftain is considered as a compatriot, not only by the 
historians of Friesland, but by those of Saxony ; both, it would 
appear, having equal claims to the honor ; for the union be- 
tween the two people was constantly strengthened by inter- 
marriages between the noblest families of each. As long as 
Witikind remained a pagan and a freeman, some doubt ex- 
isted as to the final fate of Friesland ; but when by his con- 
version he became only a noble of the court of Charlemagne, 
the slavery of his country was consummated. 

* Vita Sti. Bonifacii. 



28 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 800 

CHAP. III. 

800—1000. 

FROM THE CONaUEST OF FRIESLAND TO THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND. 

Even at this advanced epoch of foreign domination, there 
remained as great a difference as ever between the people of 
the high grounds and the inhabitants of the plain. The lat- 
ter were, like the rest, incorporated with the great monarchy ; 
but they preserved the remembrance of former independence, 
and even retained their ancient names. In Flanders, Mena- 
pians and Flemings were still found, and in the country of 
Antwerp the Toxandrians were not extinct. All the rest of 
the coast was still called Friesland. But in the high grounds 
the names of the old inhabitants were lost. Nations were 
designated by the names of their rivers, forests, or towns. 
They were classified as accessories to inanimate things ; and 
having no monuments which reminded them of their origin, 
they became as it were w ithout recollections or associations ; 
and degenerated, as may be almost said, into a people with- 
out ancestry. 

The physical state of the country had greatly changed 
from the times of Cassar to those of Charlemagne. Many 
parts of the forest of the Ardennes had been cut down or 
cleared away. Civilization had only appeared for awhile 
among these w^oods, to perish like a delicate plant in an un- 
genial clime ; but it seemed to have sucked the very sap from 
the soil, and to have left the people no remains of the vigor 
of man in his savage state, nor of the desperate courage of 
the warriors of Germany. A race of serfs now cultivated the 
domains of haughty lords and imperious priests. The clergy 
had immense possessions in this country ; an act of the fox- 
lowing century recognizes 14,000 families of vassals as be- 
longing to the single abbey of Nivelle. Tournay and Tongres, 
both episcopal cities, were by that title somewhat less op- 
pressed than the other ancient towns founded by the Romans ; 
but they appear to have possessed only a poor and degraded 
population. 

The low lands, on the other hand, announced a striking 
commencement of improvement and prosperity. The marshes 
and fens, which had arrested and repulsed the progress of 
imperial Rome, had disappeared in every part of the interior. 
The Meuse and the Scheldt no longer joined at their out- 
lets, to desolate the neighbouring lands ; whether this change 



800. COUNTS OF THE EMPIRE. 29 

was produced by the labors of man, or merely by the accu- 
mulation of sand deposited by either stream and forming- bar- 
riers to both. The towns of Courtraig, Bruges, Ghent, Ant- 
werp, Berg-op-zoom, and Thiel, had already a flourishing 
trade. The last-mentioned town contained in the following- 
century fifty-five churches ; a fact from which, in the absence 
of other evidence, the extent of the population may be con 
jectured. The formation of dikes for the protection of lands 
formerly submerged was already well understood, and regu- 
lated by uniform custom. The plains thus reconquered from 
the waters were distributed in portions, according to their 
labor, by those who reclaimed them, except the parts re- 
served for the chieftain, the church, and the poor. This vital 
necessity for the construction of dikes had given to the Pri- 
son and Flemish population a particular habit of union, good- 
will, and reciprocal justice, because it was necessary to make 
common cause in this great work for their mutual preserva- 
tion. In all other points, the detail of the laws and manners 
of this united people presents a picture similar to that of the 
Saxons of England, with the sole exception that the people 
of the Netherlands were milder than the Saxon race properly 
so called — their long habit of laborious industry exercising 
its happy influence on the martial spirit original to both. The 
manufacturing arts were also somewhat more advanced in 
this part of the continent than in Great Britain. The Pri- 
sons, for example, were the only people who could succeed 
in making the costly mantles in use among the wealthy 
Franks. 

The government of Charlemagne admitted but one form, 
borrowed fi-om that of the empire in the period of its decline 
— a mixture of the spiritual and temporal powers, exercised 
in the first place by the emperor, and at second-hand by the 
counts and bishops. The counts in those times were not the 
heads of noble families, as they afterwards became, but offi- 
cers of the government, removable at will, and possessing 
no hereditary rights. Their incomes did not arise from sala- 
ries paid in money, but consisted of lands, of which they had 
the revenues during the continuance of their authority. 
These lands being situated in the limits of their administra- 
tion, each regarded them as his property only for the time 
being, and considered himself as a tenant at will. How un 
favorable such a system was to culture and improvement may 
be well imagined. The force of possession was, however, 
frequently opposed to the seigniorial rights of the crown ; and 
thus, though all civil dignity and the revenues attached to it 
were but personal and reclaimable at will, stil] many difjnita- 



30 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 800. 

ries, taking advantage of the barbarous state of the country 
in which their isolated cantons were placed, sought by every 
possible means to render their power and prerogatives unali- 
enable and real. The force of the monarchical government, 
which consists mainly in its centralization, was necessarily 
weakened by the intervention of local obstacles, before it 
could pass from the heart of the empire to its limits. Thus 
it was only by perpetually interposing his personal efforts, 
and flying, as it were, from one end to the other of his do- 
minions, that Charlemagne succeeded in preserving his au- 
thority. As for the people, without any sort of guarantee 
against the despotism of the government, they were utterly 
at the mercy of the nobles or of the sovereign. But this state 
of servitude was quite incompatible with the union of social 
powers necessary to a population that had to struggle against 
the tyranny of the ocean. To repulse its attacks with suc- 
cessftil vigor, a spirit of complete concert was absolutely re- 
quired ; and the nation being thus united, and consequently 
strong, the efforts of foreign tyrants were shattered by its 
resistance, as the waves of the sea that broke against the 
dikes by which it was defied. 

From the time of Charlemagne, the people of the ancient 
Menapia, now become a prosperous commonwealth, formed 
political associations to raise a barrier against the despotic 
violence of the Franks. These associations were called Gil- 
den, and in the Latin of the times Gildonia. They comprised, 
besides their covenants for mutual protection, an obligation 
which bound every member to give succor to any other, in 
cases of illness, conflagration, or shipwreck. But the grow- 
ing force of these social compacts alarmed the quick-sighted 
despotism of Charlemagne, and they were, consequently, 
prohibited both by him and his successors. To give a notion 
of the importance of this prohibition to the whole of Europe, 
it is only necessary to state that the most ancient corporations 
(all which had preceded and engendered the most valuable 
municipal rights) were nothing more than gilden. Thus, to 
draw an example from Great Britain, the corporative charter 
of Berwick still bears the title of Charta GildonicB. But the 
ban of the sovereigns was without efficacy, when opposed to 
the popular will. The gilden stood their ground ; and within 
a century after the death of Charlemagne, all Flanders was 
covered with corporate towns. 

This popular opposition took, however, another form in the 
northern parts of the country, which still bore the common 
name of Friesland ; for there it was not merely local but 
national. The Frisons succeeded in obtaining the sanction 



800. PRIVILEGES OF THE PRISONS. 31 

of the monarch to consecrate, as it were, those rights which 
were established under the ancient forms of government. 
The fact is undoubted ; but the means which they employed 
are uncertain. It appears most probable that this great privi- 
lege was the price of their military services ; for they held 
a high place in the victorious armies of Charlemagne ; and 
Turpin, the old French romancer, alluding to the popular 
traditions of his time, represents the warriors of Friesland 
as endowed with the most heroic valor.* 

These rights, which the Frisons secured, according to their 
own statements, from Charlemagne, but most undoubtedly 
from some one or other of the earliest emperors, consisted, 
first, in the freedom of every order of citizens ; secondly, in 
the right of property, — a right which admitted no authority 
of the sovereign to violate by confiscation, except in cases 
of downright treason ; thirdly, in the privilege of trial by 
none but native judges, and according to their national 
usages ; fourthly, in a very narrow limitation of the military 
services which they owed to the king ; fifthly, in the heredi- 
tary title to feudal property, in direct line, on payment of 
certain dues or rents. These five principal articles sufficed 
to render Friesland, in its political aspect, totally different 
from the other portions of the monarchy. Their privileges 
secured, their property inviolable, their duties limited, the 
Frisons were altogether free from the servitude which 
weighed down France. It will soon be seen that these spe- 
cial advantages produced a government nearly analogous to 
that which Magna Charta was the means of founding at a 
later period in England. 

The successors of Charlemagne chiefly signalized their 
authority by lavishing donations of all kinds on the church. 
By such means the ecclesiastical power became greater and 
greater, and, in those countries under the sway of France, 
was quite as arbitrary and enormous as that of the nobility. 
The bishops of Utrecht, Liege, and Tournay, became, in the 
course of time, the chief personages on that line of the fron- 
tier. They had the great advantage over the counts, of not 
being subjected to capricious or tyrannical removals. ' They 
therefore, even in civil affairs, played a m.ore considerable 
part than the latter ; and began to render themselves more 
and more independent in their episcopal cities, which were 
soon to become so many principalities. The counts, on their 
parts, used their best exertions to wear out, if they had not 
the strength to break, the chains which bound them to the 



■ Oiirio Vriesche Wetten, book ii. 



82 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 864 

footstool of the monarch. They were not all now dependent 
on the same sovereign ; for the empire of Charlemagne was 
divided among his successors: France, properly so called, 
was bounded by the Scheldt ; the country to the eastward of 
that river, that is to say, nearly the whole of the Netherlands, 
belonged to Lorraine and Germany. 

In this state of things, it happened that in the year 864, 
Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald king of France, having 
survived her husband Ethelwolf king of England, became 
attached to a powerful Flemish chieftain called Baldwin. It 
is not quite certain whether he was count, forester, marquis, 
or protector of the frontiers ; but he certainly enjoyed, no 
matter under what title, considerable authority in the coun- 
try ; since the pope on one occasion wrote to Charles the 
Bald to beware of offending him, lest he should join the Nor- 
mans, and open to them an entrance into France. He carried 
off Judith to his possessions in Flanders. The king her 
father, afler many ineffectual threats, was forced to consent 
to their union ; and confirmed to Baldwin, with the title of 
count, the hereditary government of all the country between 
the Scheldt and the Somme, a river of Picardy. This was 
the commencement of the celebrated county of Flanders; 
and this Baldwin is designated in history by the surname of 
Bras-de-fer (iron-handed,) to which his courage had justly 
entitled him. 

The Belgian historians are also desirous of placing about 
this epoch the first counts of Hainault, and even of Holland. 
But though it may be true that the chief families of each 
canton sought then, as at all times, to shake off the yoke, the 
epoch of their independence can only be fixed at the later 
period at which they obtained or enforced the privilege of not 
being deprived of their titles and their feudal estates. The 
counts of the high grounds, and those of Friesland, enjoyed 
at the utmost but a fortuitous privilege of continuance in 
their rank. Several foreigners had gained a footing and an 
authority in the country: among others Wickmand, from 
whom descended the chatelains of Ghent ; and the counts of 
Holland, and Heriold, a Norman prince who had been ban- 
ished from his own country. This name of Normans, hardly 
known before the time of Charlemagne, soon became too 
celebrated. It designated the pagan inhabitants of Denmark, 
Norway, and Sweden, who, driven by rapacity and want, in- 
fested the neighboring seas. The asylum allowed in the do- 
minions of the emperors to some of those exiled outlaws, 
and the imprudent provocations given by these latter to their 
adventurous countrvmcn, attracted various bands of Norman 



I 



891. INVASIONS BY THE NORMANS. 33 

pirates to the shores of Guelders ; and from desultory descents 
upon the coast, they soon came to inundate the interior of 
the country. Flanders alone successfully resisted them during 
the life of Baldwin Bras-de-fer ; but after the death of this 
brave chieftain there was not a province of the whole country 
that was not ravaged by these invaders. Their multiplied 
expeditions threw back the Netherlands at least two centu- 
ries, if, indeed, any calculation of the kind may be fairly 
formed respecting the relative state of population and im- 
provement dn. the imperfect data that are left us. Several 
cantons became deserted. The chief cities were reduced to 
heaps of ruins. The German emperors vainly interposed for 
the relief of their unfortunate vassals. Finally, an agree- 
ment was entered into, in the year 882, with Godfrey the 
king or leader of the Normans, by which a peace was pur- 
chased on condition of paying him a large subsidy, and ceding 
to him the government of Friesland. But, in about two years 
from this period, the fierce barbarian began to complain that 
the country he had thus gained did not produce grapes, and 
the present inspiration of his rapacity seemed to be the 
blooming vineyards of France. The emperor Charles the 
Fat, anticipating the consequence of a rupture with Godfrey, 
enticed him to an interview, m which he caused him to be 
assassinated. His followers, attacked on all points by the 
people of Friesland, perished almost to a man ; and their de- 
struction was completed, in 891, by Arnoul the Germanic. 
From that period, the scourge of Norman depredation became 
gradually less felt. They now made but short and desultory 
attempts on the coast ; and their last expedition appears to 
have taken place about the year 1000, when they threatened, 
but did not succeed in seizing on, the city of Utrecht. 

It is remarkable that, although for the space of 150 years the 
Netherlands were continually the scene of invasion and devas- 
tation by these northern barbarians, the political state of the 
country underwent no important changes. The emperors 
of Germany were sovereigns of the whole country, with the 
exception of Flanders, These portions of the empire were 
still called Lorraine, as well as all which they possessed of 
what is now called France, and which was that part forming 
the appanage of Lothaire and of the Lotheringian kings. 
The great difficulty of maintaining subordination among 
the numerous chieftains of this country caused it, in 958, 
to be divided into two governments, which were called 
Higher and Lower Lorraine. The latter poition comprised 
nearly the whole of the Netherlands, which thus became 
governed by a lieutenajit of the emperors. Godft-ey count 



34 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 990. 

of Ardenne was the first who filled this place ; and he soon 
felt all the perils of the situation. The other counts saw, 
with a jealous eye, their equal now promoted into a superior. 
Two of the most powerful, Lambert and Reginald, were 
brothers. They made common cause against the new duke ; 
and after a desperate struggle, which did not cease till the 
year 985, they gained a species of imperfect independence, — 
Lambert becoming the root from which sprang the counts 
of Louvain, and Reginald that of the counts of Hainault. 

The emperor Othon IT. who upheld the authority of his 
lieutenant Godfrey, became convinced that the imperial 
power was too weak to resist singly the opposition of the 
nobles of the country. He had therefore transferred, about 
the year 980, the title of duke to a young prince of the royal 
house of France ; and we thus see the duchy of Lower Lor- 
raine governed, in the name of the emperor, by the last two 
shoots of the branch of Charlemagne, the dukes Charles and 
Othon of France, son and grandson of Louis d'Outremer. 
The first was a gallant prince : he may be looked on as the 
founder of the greatness of Brussels, where he fixed his resi- 
dence. After several years of tranquil government, the 
death of his brother called him to the throne of France ; and 
from that time he bravely contended for the crown of his an- 
cestors, against the usurpation of Hugues Capet, whom he 
frequently defeated in battle : but he was at length treach- 
erously surprised and put to death, in 990. Othon, his son, 
did not signalize his name nor justify his descent by any 
memorable action; and in him ingloriously perished the 
name of the Carlovingians. 

The death of Othon set the emperor and the great vassals 
once more in opposition. The German monarch insisted on 
naming some creature of his own to the dignity of duke ; 
but Lambert IL count of Louvain, and Robert count of 
Namur, having married the sisters of Othon, respectively 
claimed the right of inheritance to his title. Baldwin of the 
comely beard, count of F'anders, joined himself to their 
league, hoping to extend his power to the eastward of the 
Scheldt. And, in fact, the emperor, as the only means of 
disuniting his two powerful vassals, felt himself obliged to 
cede Valenciennes and the islands of Zealand to Baldwin. 
The imperial power thus lost ground at every struggle.* 

Amid the confusion of these events, a power well calcu- 
lated to rival or even supplant that of the fierce counts was 
growing up. Many circumstances were combined to oy- 



TJisl, Crit. Com. HoU. torn. i. p. 2. 



1013. INFLUENCE OF THE BISHOPS. 35 

tend and consolidate the episcopal sway. It is true that the 
bishops of Tournay had no temporal authority, since the pe- 
riod of their city being ruined by the Normans. But those 
of Liege and Utrecht, and more particularly the latter, had 
accumulated immense possessions; and their power being- 
inalienable, they had nothing to fear from the caprices of 
sovereign favor, which so oft^ n ruined the families of the 
aristocracy. Those bishops, who were v/arriors and hunts- 
men rather than ecclesiastics, possessed, however, in addi- 
tion to the lance and the sword, the terrible artillery of ex- 
communication and anathema, which they thundered forth 
without mercy against every laical opponent: and when 
they had, by conquest or treachery, acquired new dominions 
and additional store of wealth, they could not portion it 
among their children, like the nobles, but it devolved to 
their successors, who thus became more and more powerful, 
and gained by degrees an authority almost royal, like that 
of the ecclesiastical elector of Germany. 

Whenever the emperor warred against his lay vassals, he 
was sure of assistance from the bishops, because they were 
at all times jealous of the power of the counts, and had much 
less to gain from an alliance with them than with the impe- 
rial despots on whose donations they throve, and who repaid 
their ejftbrts by new privileges and extended possessions. So 
that when the monarch, at length, lost the superiority in his 
contests with the counts, little was wanting to make his 
authority be merged altogether m the overgrown power of 
these churchmen. Nevertheless, a first effort of the bishop 
of Liege, to seize on the rights of the count of Louvain, 
in 1013, met with a signal defeat, in a battle which took 
place at the little village of Stongarde.* And five years 
later, the count of the Friesland marshes (comes Frisonum 
Morsatenorum) gave a still more severe lesson to the bishop 
of Utrecht. This last merits a more particular mention, 
from the nature of the quarrel and the importance of its 
results. 

* Ann. Due. Brab. torn. i. 



36 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1018 

CHAP. IV. 

1018—1384. 

FROM THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DE MALE 

The district in which Dordrecht is situated, and the 
grounds in its environs which are at present submerged, 
formed in those times an island just raised above the waters, 
and which was called Holland or Holtland, (which means 
wooded land, or, according to some, hollow land.) The for- 
mation of this island, or rather its recovery from the waters, 
being only of recent date, the right to its possession was 
more disputable than that of long-established countries. All 
the bishops and abbots whose states bordered the Rhine and 
the Meuse had, being equally covetous and grasping, and 
mutually resolved to pounce on the proy, made it their com- 
mon property. A certain count Thierry, descended from the 
counts of Ghent, governed about this period the western ex- 
tremity of Friesland, — the country which now forms the prov- 
ince of Holland ; and with much difficulty maintained his 
power against the Frisons, by whom his right was not ac- 
knowledged. Beaten out of his own territories by these re- 
fractory insurgents, he sought refuge in the ecclesiastical 
island, where he intrenched himself, and founded a town 
which is believed to have been the origin of Dordrecht. 

This count Thierry, like all the feudal lords, took advan- 
tage of his position to establish and levy certain duties on all 
the vessels which sailed past his territory, dispossessing in 
the mean time some vassals of the church, and beating, as we 
have stated, the bishop of Utrecht himself Complaints and 
appeals without number were laid at the foot of the imperial 
throne. Godfrey of Eenham, whom ."le emperor had created 
duke of Lower Lorraine, was commanded to call the whole 
country to arms. The bishop of Liege, though actually dying, 
put himself at the head of the expedition, to revenge his bro- 
ther prelate, and punish the audacious spoiler of the church 
property. But Thierry and his fierce Frisons took Godfrey 
prisoner, and cut his army in pieces. The victor had the 
good sense and moderation to spare his prisoners, and set 
them free without ransom. He received in return an impe- 
rial amnesty ; and from that period the count of Holland and 
his posterity formed a barrier, against which the ecclesiasti- 



10G6. COMMERCE OF FLAJSTDEES. 37 

cal power and tlie remains of the imperial supremacy con- 
tinually struggled, to be only shattered in each new assault,* 

As the partial independejjpe of the great vassals became 
consolidated, the monarchs were proportionally anxious to 
prevent its perpetuation in the same families. In pursuance 
of this system, Godfrey of Eenham obtained the preference 
over the counts Lambert and Robert ; and Frederick of Lux- 
embourg was named duke of Lower Lorraine in 1046, in- 
stead of a second Godfrey Vv^ho was nephew and expectant 
heir to the first. But this Godfrey, upheld by Baldwin of 
Flanders, forced the emperor to concede to him the inherit- 
ance of the dukedom. Baldwin secured for his share the 
country of Alost and Waas, and the citadel of Ghent ; and 
he also succeeded in obtaining in marriage for his son the 
j3ountess Richilde, heiress of Hainault and Namur. Thus 
"was Flanders incessantly gaining new aggrandizement, w^hile 
the duchy of Lorraine was crumbling away on every side. 

In the year 1066 this state of Flanders, even then flourish- 
ing and powerful, furnished assistance both in men and ships 
to William the Bastard of Normandy, for the conquest of 
England. William was son-in-law to count Baldwin, and 
recompensed the assistance of his wife's father by an annual 
payment of three hundred silver marks. It was Mathilda, 
the Flemish princess and wife of the conqueror, who worked 
with her own hands the celebrated tapestry of Bayeux, on 
which is embroidered the whole history of the conquest, and 
which is the most curious monument of the state of the arts 
in that age. 

Flanders acquired a positive and considerable superiority 
over all the other parts of the Netherlands, from the first es- 
tablishment of its counts or earls. The descendants of Bald- 
win Bras-de-fer, after having valiantly repulsed the Normans 
towards the end of the ninth century, showed themselves 
worthy of ruling over an industrious and energetic people. 
They had built towns, cut down and cleared away forests, 
and reclaimed inundated lands : above all things, they had 
understood and guarded against the danger of parcelling out 
their states at every succeeding generation ; and the county 
of Flanders passed entire into the hands of the first-born of 
the family. The stability produced by this state of things 
had allowed the people to prosper. The Normans now visit- 
ed the coasts, not as enemies but as merchants ; and Bruges 
became the mart of the booty acquired by these bold pirates 

* John Egmont, an old chronicler, says, that the counts of Holland were 
*a sworJ ill the flanks of the bishops of Utrecht," 



38 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1071. 

in England and on the high seas. The fisheries had begun 
to acquire an importance sufficient to establish the herring 
as one of the chief aliments of the population. Maritime 
commerce had made such strides, that Spain and Portugal 
were well known to both sailors and traders, and the voyage 
from Flanders to Lisbon was estimated at fifteen days' sail. 
Woollen stufls formed the principal wealth of the country ; 
but salt, corn, and jewellery, were also important branches 
of traffic ; while the youth of Flanders were so famous fcj 
their excellence in all martial pursuits, that foreign sovereigns 
were at all times desirous of obtaining bodies of troops from 
this nation. 

The greatest part of Flanders was attached, as has been 
seen, to the king of France, and not to Lorraine ; but the de- 
pendence was little more than nominal. In 1071 the king 
of France attempted to exercise his authority over the coun- 
try, by naming to the government the same countess Richilde 
who had received Hainault and Namur for her dower, and 
who was left a widow, with sons still in their minority. The 
people assembled in the principal towns, and protested against 
this intervention of the French monarch. But we must re- 
mark, that it was only the population of the low lands (whose 
sturdy ancestors had ever resisted foreign domination) that 
now took part in this opposition.* The vassals which the 
counts of Flanders possessed in the Gallic provinces (the high 
grounds,) and in general all the nobility, pronounced strongly 
for submission to France ; for the principles of political free- 
dom had not yet been fixed in the minds of the inhabitants 
of those parts of the country. But the lowlanders joined to- 
gether under Robert, surnamed the Frison, brother of the 
deceased count ; and they so completely defeated the French, 
the nobles and their unworthy associates of the high ground, 
that they despoiled the usurpmg countess Richilde of even 
her hereditary possessions. In this war perished the cele- 
brated Norman William Fitz-Osborn, who had flown to tlie 
succor of the defeated countess, of whom he was enamoured. 

Robert the Frison, not satisfied with having beaten the 
king of France and the bishop of Liege, restored in 1076 the 
grandson of Thierry of Holland in the possessions which had 
been forced from him by the duke of Lower Lorraine, in the 
name of the emperor and the bishop of Utrecht : so that it 
was this valiant chieftain, vAio, above all others, is entitled 
to the praise of having successfully opposed the system of 
foreign domination on all the principal points of the country. 

* Van Praet, Ungine ties Communes de Flandres. 



iOSO. STATE OF THE FRISO^TS. 'Si) 

Four years later, Othon of Nassau was the first to unite in 
one county the various cantons of Guelders. Finally, in 
1086, Henry of Lou vain, the direct descendant of Lambert, 
joined to his title that of count of Brabant ; and from this pe- 
riod the country v^^as partitioned pretty nearly as it was des- 
tined to remain for several centuries. 

In the midst of this gradual organization of the various 
counties, history for some time loses sight of those Frisons, 
the maritime people of the north, who took little part in the 
civil wars of two centuries. But still there was no portion 
of Europe which at that time oifered a finer picture of social 
improvement than these damp and unhealthy coasts. The 
name of Frisons extended from the Weser to the Vv'-estward 
of the Zuyder Zee, but not quite to the Rhine ; and it be- 
came usual to consider no longer as Frisons the subjects of 
the counts of Holland, whom we may now^ begin to distinguish 
as Hollanders or Dutch. The Frison race alone refused to 
recognize the sovereign counts. They boasted of being self- 
governed ; owning no allegiance but to the emperor, and 
regarding the counts of his nomination as so many officers 
charged to require obedience to the laws of the country, but 
themselves obliged in all things to respect them. But the 
counts of Holland, the bishops of Utrecht, and several Ger- 
man lords, dignified from time to time with the title of counts 
of Friesland, insisted that it carried v/ith it a personal au- 
thority superior to that of the sovereign they represented. 
The descendants of the count Thierry, a race of men remark- 
ably warlike, were the most violent in this assumption of 
power. Defeat after defeat, however, punished their obsti- 
nacy ; and numbers of those princes met death on the pikes 
of their Frison opponents. The latter had no regular lead- 
ers ; but at the approach "-f the enemy the inhabitants of each 
canton flew to arms, like Lhe members of a single family : 
and all the feudal forces brought against them failed to sub- 
due this popular militia. 

The frequent result of these collisions was the refusal of 
the Frisons to recognize any authority whatever but that of 
the national judges. Each canton w^as governed according 
to its own laws. If a difficulty arose, the deputies of the na- 
tion met together on the borders of the Ems, in a place called 
" the Trees of Upstal" ( UpstaU-booinen,) where three old 
oaks stood in the middle of an immense plaui. In this primi- 
tive council-place chieftains were chosen who, on swearing 
to maintain the laws and oppose the common enemy, were 
invested with a limited and temporary authority. 

Tt does not appear that Friesland possessed any large 



40 iriSTOKY OF THE NETHl^.li LANDS. IDSG. 

towns, wiili the exception of Staveren. In this respect tlie 
Frisons resembled those ancient Germans who had a horror 
of shutting themselves up within walls.* They lived in a 
way completely patriarchal ; dwelling- in isolated cabins, and 
with habits of the utmost frugality. We read in one of their 
old histories, that a whole convent of Benedictines was terri- 
fied at the voracity of a German sculptor who was repairing 
their chapel. They implored him to look elsewhere for his 
food ; for that he and his sons consumed enough to exhaust 
the whole stock of the monastery.! 

In no part of Europe was the good sense of the people so 
effectively opposed to the unreasonable practices of Catholic- 
ism in those days. The Frisons successfully resisted the pay- 
ment of tithes ; and as a punishment (if the monks are to be 
believed) the sea inflicted upon them repeated inundations. 
They forced their priests to marry, saying that the man who 
had no wife necessarily sought for the wife of another. They 
aclmowledged no ecclesiastical decree, if secular judges, dou- 
ble the number of the priests, did not bear a part in it.| Thus 
the spirit of liberty burst forth in all their proceedings, and 
they were justified in calling themselves Vri- Vricsen, Free- 
Frisons. 

No nation is more interested than England in the exami- 
nation of all that concerns this remote corner of Europe, so 
resolute in its opposition to both civil and religious tyranny ; 
for it was there that those Saxon institutions and principles 
were first developed without constraint, while the time of 
their establishment in England was still distant. Restrained 
by our narrow limits, we can merely indicate this curious 
state of things ; nor may we enter on many mysteries of so- 
cial government which the most learned find a difficulty in 
solving. What were the rights of the nobles in their con- 
nexion with these freemen "? What ties of reciprocal inter- 
est bound the different cantons to each other T What wero 
the privileges of the towns'? — These are the minute but im- 
portant points of detail which are overshadowed by the grand 
and imposing figure of the national independence. But in 
fact, the emperors themselves, in these distant times, had 
little knowledge of this province, and spoke of it vaguely, and 
as it were at random, in their diplomas, the chief monuments 
of the history of the middle ages. The counts of Holland and 
the apostolic nuncios addressed their acts and rescripts indis- 
criminately to the nobles, clergy, magistrates, judges, con- 

* Gibbon, ii 360. f Chron. Mencoiiis Abb. in Wernm. 

I Oude Vriesche Wetten, DrcI. 1. 



iOSG. TUT-IK POLiTTCAL IXSTITUTIOXS. U 

suls, or commons of Frieslaiid. Sometimes appeared in those 
documents the vague and imposing- title of " the great Fri- 
son," applied to some popular leader. All this confusion tends 
to prove, on the authority of the historians of the epoch, and 
the charters so carefully collected by the learned,* that this 
question, now so impossible to solve, w^as even then not right 
ly understood, — what were really those fierce and redoubtabl 
Frisons in their popular and political relations 1 The fact is, 
that liberty was a matter so difficult to be comprehended by 
tlie writers of those times, that Froissart gave as his opinion, 
about the year 1380, that the Frisons were a most unreason- 
able race, for not recognizing the authority and power of the 
great lords. 

The eleventh century had been for the Netherlands (with 
the exception of Friesland and Flanders) an epoch of organi- 
zation ; and had nearly fixed the political existence of the 
provinces, which were so long confounded in the vast posses- 
sions of the empire. It is therefore important to ascertain 
under what influence and on what basis these provinces be- 
came consolidated at that period. Holland and Zealand, 
animated by the spirit which we may fairly distinguisli under 
the mingled title of Saxon and maritime, countries scarcely 
accessible, and with a vigorous population, possessed, in the 
descendants of Thierry L, a race of national chieftains who 
did not attempt despotic rule over so unconquerable a peo- 
ple. In Brabant, the maritime towns of Berg-op-Zoom and 
Antwerp formed, in the Flemish style, so many republics, 
small but not insignificant ; while the southern parts of the 
province were under the sway of a nobility who crushed, 
trampled on, or sold their vassals at their pleasure or caprice. 
The bishopric of Liege offered also the same contrast; the 
domains of the nobility being governed with the utmost 
harshness, while those prince-prelates lavished on their ple- 
beian vassals privileges which might have been supposed 
the fruits of generosity, were it not clear that the object was 
to create an opposition in the lower orders against the turbu- 
lent aristocracy, whom they found it impossible to manage 
single-handed. The wars of these bishops against the petty 
nobles, who made their castles so many receptacles of rob- 
bers and plunder, were thus the foundation of public liberty. 
And it appears tolerably certain that the Paladins of Ariosto 
v.'ere in reality nothing more than those brigand chieftains of 
the Ardennes, whose ruined residences preserve to this day 
the names which the poet borrowed from the old romance 

. * Pi "Van Mieris, Groot Charterboek van Holl. Zeel. en ViJpRland. 



42 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLAIN'DS. 1200. 

writers. But in all the rest of the Netherlands, excepting 
the provinces already mentioned, no form of government ex- 
isted, but that fierce feudality which reduced the people into 
serfs, and turned the social state of man into a cheerless 
waste of bondage. 

It was then that the crusades, with wild and stirring fa- 
naticism, agitated, in the common impulse given to all Eu- 
rope, even those little states which seemed to slumber in 
their isolated independence. Nowhere did the voice of Peter 
the Hermit find a more sympathizing echo than in these 
lands, still desolated by so many intestine struggles. Godfrey 
of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine, took the lead in this 
ehivalric and religious frenzy. With him set out the counts 
of Hainault and Flanders ; the latter of whom received from 
the English crusaders the honorable appellation of Fitz St. 
George. But although the valor of all these princes was 
conspicuous, from the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem 
by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1098, imtil that of the Latin em- 
pire of Constantinople by Baldwin of Flanders in 1203, still 
the simple gentlemen and peasants of Friesland did not less 
distinguish themselves. They were, on all occasions, the 
first to mount the breach or lead the charge ; and the pope's 
nuncio found himself forced to prohibit the very women of 
Friesland from embarking for the Holy Land — so anxious 
were they to share the perils and glory of their husbands and 
brothers in combating the Saracens. 

The outlet given by the crusaders to the over-boiling 
ardor of these warlike countries, w^as a source of infinite ad- 
vantage to their internal economy : under the rapid progress 
of civilization, the population increased and the fields were 
cultivated. The nobility, reduced to moderation by the en- 
feebling consequences of extensive foreign wars, became com- 
paratively impotent in their attempted efforts against domes- 
tic freedom. Those of Flanders and Brabant, also, were 
almost decimated in the terrible battle of Bouvines, fought 
between the emperor Otlion and Philip Augustus king of 
France. On no occasion, however, had this reduced but 
not degenerate nobility shown more heroic valor. The 
Flemish knights, disdaining to mount their horses or form 
their ranks for the repulse of the French cavalry, composed 
of common persons, contemptuously received their shock on 
foot and in the disorder of individual resistance. The brave 
Buridan of Ypres led his comrades to the fight, with the 
ehivalric war-cry, " Let each now think of her he loves !" 
But the issue of this battle was ruinous to the Belgians, in 
consequence of the bad generalship of the emperor, who had 



1200. PROGEESS OF FREEDOM. 43 

divided his army into small portions, which were defeated in 
detail. 

While the nobility thus declined, the towns began rapidly 
to develop the elements of popular force. In 1120, a Flem- 
ish knig-ht who might descend so far as to marry a woman 
of the plebeian ranks incurred the penalty of degradation and 
servitude.* In 1220, scarcely a serf was to be found in all 
Flanders.f In 1300, the chiefs of the gilden, or trades, were 
more powerful than the nobles. These dates and these facts 
must suffice to mark the epoch at which the great mass of 
the nation arose from the wretchedness in which it was 
plunged by the Norman invasion, and acquired sufficient 
strength and freedom to form a real political force. But it is 
remarkable that the same results took place in all the coun- 
ties or dukedoms of the Lowlands precisely at the same pe- 
riod. In fact, if we start from the year 1200 on this inter- 
esting inquiry, we shall see the commons attacking, in the 
first place the petty feudal lords, and next the counts and the 
dukes themselves, as often as justice was denied them. In 
1257, the peasants of Holland and the burghers of Utrecht 
proclaimed freedom and equality, drove out the bishop and 
the nobles, and began a memorable struggle which lasted full 
two hundred years. Li 1260, the towns-people of Flanders 
appealed to the king of France against the decrees of their 
count, who ended the quarrel by the loss of his county. In 
1303, Mechlin and Louvain, the chief towns of Brabant, ex- 
pelled the patrician families. A coincidence like this cannot 
be attributed to trifling or partial causes, such as the miscon- 
duct of a single count, or other local evil ; but to a great 
general movement in the popular mind, the progress of agri- 
culture and industry in the whole country, superinducing an 
increase of wealth and intelligence, which, when unrestrain 
ed by the influence of a corrupt government, must naturallj 
lead to the liberty and the happiness of a people. 

The weaving of woollen and linen cloths was one of the 
chief sources of this growing prosperity. A prodigious quan- 
tity of cloth and linen was manufactured in all parts of the 
Netherlands. The maritime prosperity acquired an equal 
increase by the carrying trade, both in imports and exports. 
Whole fleets of Dutch and Flemish merchant-ships repaired 
regularly to the coasts of Spain and Languedoc. Flanders 
was already become the great market for England and all 



* Vita Caroli boni." 

t Tlie countess Jane had enfranchised all thoee belonging to her as early 
ns m-i.— F'rcflii Si<r. Com. Fl- 



44 IIISTOEY OF TIIK TsETHEKLAINDS. 1200 

the north of Europe. The great increase of population forced 
all parts of the country into cultivation ; so much so, that 
lands were in those times sold at a high price, which are to- 
day left waste from imputed sterility. 

Legislation naturally followed the movements of those 
positive and material interests. The earliest of the towns, 
after the invasion of the Normans, were in some degree but 
places of refuge. It was soon, however, established that the 
regular inhabitants of these bulwarks of the country should 
not be subjected to any servitude beyond their care and de- 
fence ; but the citizen who might absent himself for a longer 
period than forty days was considered a deserter and de- 
prived of his rights. It was about the year 1100 that the 
commons began to possess the privilege of regulating their 
internal affairs : they appointed their judges and magistrates, 
and attached to their authority the old custom of ordering all 
the citizens to assemble or march when the summons of the 
feudal lord sounded the signal for their assemblage or ser- 
vice. By this means each municipal magistracy had the 
disposal of a force far superior to those of the nobles, for the 
population of the towns exceeded both in number and disci- 
pline the vassals of the seigniorial lands. And these train- 
ed bands of the towns made war in a M^ay very different from 
that hitherto practised; for the chivalry of the country, 
making the trade of arms a profession for life, the feuds of 
the chieftains produced hereditary struggles, almost always 
slow, and mutually disastrous. But the townsmen, forced 
to tear themselves from every association of home and its 
manifold endearments, advanced boldly to the object of the 
contest ; never shrinking from the dangers of war, from fear 
of that still greater to be found in a prolonged struggle. It 
is thus that it may be remarked, during the memorable con- 
flicts of the thirteenth century, that when even the bravest 
of the knights advised their counts or dukes to grant or de- 
mand a truce, the citizen militia never knew but one cry — 
" To the charge !"* 

Evidence wa.s soon given of the importance of this new 
nation, when it became forced to take up arms against ene- 
mies still more redoubtable than the counts. In 1301, the 
Flemings, who had abandoned their own sovereign to attach 
themselves to Philip the Fair, king of France, began to re- 
pent of their newly -formed allegiance, and to be weary of tbe 
master they had chosen. Two citizens of Bruges, Peter de 
Koning, a draper, and John Breydel, a butcher, put them- 

* Butkens. Trophies de Brabant. 



1323. REVOLT OF THE TOWNS. 45 

selves at the head of their fellow-townsmen, and completely- 
dislodged the French troops who garrisoned it. The follow- 
ing year, the militia of Bruges and the immediate neighbor- 
hood sustained alone, at the battle of Courtrai, the shock of 
one of the finest armies that France ever sent into the field. 
Victory soon declared for the gallant men of Bruges ; up- 
wards of 3000 of the French chivalry, besides common sol- 
diers, were left dead on the field. In 1304, after a long con- 
tested battle, the Flemings forced the king of France to re- 
lease their count, whom he had held prisoner. " I believe it 
rains Flemings !" said Philip, astonished to see them crowd 
on him from all sides of the field. But this multitude of war- 
riors, always ready to meet the foe, were provided for the 
most part by the towns. In the seigniorial system a village 
hardly furnished more than four or five men, and these only 
on important occasions ; but in that of the towns, every citi- 
zen was enrolled a soldier to defend the country at all times. 
The same system established in Brabant forced the duke 
of that province to sanction and guaranty the popular privi- 
leges, and the superiority of the people over the nobility. 
Such was the result of the famous contract concluded in 
1312 at Cortenberg'h, by which the duke created a legisla- 
tive and judicial assembly to meet every twenty-one days for 
the provincial business ; and to consist of fourteen deputies, 
of whom only four were to be nobles, and ten were chosen 
from the people. The duke was bound by this act to hold 
himself in obedience to the legislative decisions of the coun- 
cil, and renounced all right of levying arbitrary taxes or 
duties on the state.* Thus were the local privileges of the 
people by degrees secured and ratified; but the various 
towns, making common cause for general liberty, became 
strictly united together, and progressively extended their 
influence and power. The confederation between Flanders 
and Brabant was soon consolidated. The burghers of Bruges, 
who had taken the lead in the grand national union, and had 
been the foremost to expel the foreign force, took umbrage 
in 1323 at an arbitrary measure of their count, Louis (called 
of Cressy by posthumous nomination, from his having been 
killed at that celebrated fight), by which he ceded to the 
count of Namur, his great-uncle, the port of Ecluse, and 
authorized him to levy duties there in the style of the feudal 
lords of the high country. It was but the affair of a day to 
the intrepid citizens to attack the fortress of Ecluse, carry it 
l:y assault, and take prisoner the old count of Namur. They 

* Di Ueni'!, M5S. Bibl. BruxplL 



46 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1340 

destroyed in a short time almost all the strong castles of the 
nobles throughout the province ; and having- been joined by 
all the towns of vi^estern Flanders, they finally made prisoners 
count Louis himself, with almost the whole of the nobility, 
who had taken refuge with him in the town of Courtrai. 
But Ghent, actuated by the jealousy which at all times ex- 
isted between it and Bruges, stood aloof at this crisis. The 
latter town was obliged to come to a compromise with the 
count, who soon afterwards, on a new quarrel breaking out, 
and supported by the king of France, almost annihilated his 
sturdy opponents at the battle of Cassel, where the Flemish 
infantry, commanded by Nicholas Zannekin and others, were 
literally cut to pieces by the French knights and men-at- 
arms. 

This check proved the absolute necessity of union among 
the rival cities. Ten years after the battle of Cassel, 
Ghent set the example of general opposition ; this example 
was promptly followed, and the chief towns flew to arms. 
The celebrated James d'Artaveldt, commonly called the 
brewer of Ghent, put himself at the head of this formidable 
insurrection. He was a man of a distinguished family, who 
had himself enrolled among the guild of brewers, to entitle 
him to occupy a place in the corporation of Ghent, which he 
soon succeeded in managing and leading at his pleasure. 
The tyranny of the count, and the French party which sup- 
ported him, became so intolerable to Artaveldt, that he 
resolved to assail them at all hazards, unappalled by the fate 
of his father-in-law, Sohier de Courtrai, who lost his head for 
a similar attempt, and notwithstanding the hitherto devoted 
fidelity of his native city to the count. One only object 
seemed insurmountable. The Flemings had sworn allegiance 
to the crown of France ; and they revolted at the idea of per- 
jury, even from an extorted oath. But to overcome their 
scruples, Artaveldt proposed to acknowledge the claim of 
Edward III. of England to the French crown.* The Flemings 
readily acceded to this arrangement ; quickly overwhelmed 
count Louis of Cressy and his French partisans; and then 
joined, with an army of 60,000 men, the English monarch, 
who had landed at Antwerp. These numerous auxiliaries 
rendered Edward's army irresistible ; and soon afterwards 
the French and English fleets, both of formidable power, but 
the latter of inferior force, met near Sluys, and engaged m a 
battle meant to be decisive of the war : victory remained 
doubtful during an entire day of fighting, until a Flemish 



1350. JAMES d'artaveldt. 47 

squadron hastening to the aid of the English, fixed the fate 
of the combat by the utter defeat of the enemy. 

A truce between the two kings did not deprive Artaveldt 
of his well-earned authority. He was invested with the title 
of ruward, or conservator of the peace, of Flanders, and 
governed the whole province with almost sovereign sway. It 
was said that king Edward used familiarly to call him " his 
dear gossip ;" and it is certain that there was not a feudal 
lord of the time whose power was not eclipsed by this leader 
of the people. One of the principal motives which cemented 
the attachment of the Flemings to Artaveldt, was the advan- 
tage obtained through his inliuence with Edward for facili- 
tating the trade with England, whence they procured the 
chief supply of wool for their manufactories. Edward prom- 
ised them 70,000 sacks as the reward of their alliance. But 
though greatly influenced by the stimulus of general interest, 
the Flemings loved their domestic liberty better than Eng- 
lish wool ; and when they found that their ruward degen- 
erated from a firm patriot into the partisan of a foreign 
prince, they became disgusted with him altogether ; and he 
perished in 1345, in a tumult raised against him by those by 
whom he had been so lately idolized. The Flemings held 
firm, nevertheless, in their alliance with England, only 
regulating the connexion by a steady principle of national 
independence.* 

Edward knew well how to conciliate and manage these 
faithful and unportant auxiliaries during all his continental 
wars. A Flemish army covered the siege of Calais in 1348 ; 
and, under the command of Giles de Rypergherste, a mere 
weaver of Ghent, they beat the dauphin of France in a 
pitched battle. But Calais once taken, and a truce concluded, 
the English king abandoned his allies. These, left wholly to 
their own resources, forced the French and the heir of their 
count, young Louis de Male, to recognize their right to self- 
government according to their ancient privileges, and of not 
being forced to give aid to France in any war against Eng- 
land. Flanders may therefore be pronounced as forming, at 
this epoch, both in right and fact, a truly independent prin- 
cipality.! 

But such struggles as these left a deep and immovable 
sentiment of hatred in the minds of the vanquished. Louis 
de Male longed for the re-establishment and extension of his 
authority ; and had the art to gain over to his views not only 
all the nobles, but many of the most influential guilds or 

* Meverus, Ann. F!. 1 '-^< yorus. 



48 HISTOKY OF THE KETHERLANDS. loS4. 

trades. Ghent, which long' resisted his attempts, was at 
length reduced by famine ; and the count projected the ruin, 
or at least the total subjection, of this turbulent town. A son 
of Artaveldt started forth at this juncture, when the popular 
cause seemed lost ; and joining with his fellow-citizens John 
Lyons and Peter du Bois, he led 7000 resolute burghers 
against 40,000 feudal vassals. He completely defeated the 
count, and took the town of Bruges, where Louis de Male 
only obtained safety by hiding himself under the bed of an 
old woman who gave him shelter.* Thus once more feudality 
was defeated in a fresh struggle with civic freedom. 

The consequences of this event were immense. They 
reached to the very heart of France, where the people bore 
in great discontent the feudal yoke ; and Froissart declares, 
that the success of the people of Ghent had nearly over- 
thrown the superiority of the nobility over the people in 
France. But the king, Charles VL, excited by his uncle, 
Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, took arms in support of 
the defeated count, and marched with a powerful army 
against the rebellious burghers. Though defeated in four 
successive combats, in the latter of which, that of Roosbeke, 
Artaveldt was killed, the Flemings would not submit to their 
imperious count, who used every persuasion with Charles to 
continue his assistance for the punishment of these refractory 
subjects.! But the duke of Burgundy was aware that a too 
great perseverance would end, either in driving the people to 
despair and the possible defeat of the French, or the entire 
conquest of the country and its junction to the crown of 
France. He, being son-in-law to Louis de Male, and conse- 
quently aspiring to the inheritance of Flanders, saw with a 
keen glance the advantage of a present compromise. On the 
death of Louis, who is stated to have been murdered by 
Philip's brother, the duke of Berri, he concluded a peace 
with the rebel burghers, and entered at once upon the 
sovereignty of the country. | 

* Oudegherst,Chron. van Vlaenderen. y^ 

t De Barante, Hist, des Dues de Bourgogne. 
j Meyer de Barante, &c. 1384. 



1384. PHILIP THE BOLD. 49 

CHAP. V. 
1384—1506. 

FROM THE SUCCESSION OF PHILIP THE BOLD TO THE COUNTY OF 
FLANDEP.S, TO THE DEATH OF PHILIP THE FAIR. 

Thus the house of Burgundy, which soon after became so 
formidable and celebrated, obtained this vast accession to its 
power. The various changes which had taken place in the 
neighboring- provinces during the continuance of these civil 
wars had altered the state of Flanders altogether. John 
d'Avesnes count of Hainault having also succeeded in 1299 
to the county of Holland, the two provinces, though separated 
by Flanders and Brabant, remained from that time under the 
government of the same chief, who soon became more power- 
fill than the bishops of Utrecht, or even than their formidable 
rivals the Frisons. 

During the wars which desolated these opposing territories, 
in consequence of the perpetual conflicts for superiority, the 
power of the various towns insensibly became at least as 
great as that of the nobles to whom they were constantly 
opposed. The commercial interests of Holland, also, were 
considerably advanced by the influx of Flemish merchants 
forced to seek refuge there from the convulsions which 
agitated their province. Every day confirmed and increased 
the privileges of the people of Brabant ; while at Liege the 
inhabitants gradually began to gain the upper hand, and to 
shake off the former subjection to their sovereign bishops. 

Although Philip of Burgundy became count of Flanders, 
by the death of his father-in-law, in the year 1384, it was not 
till the following year that he concluded a peace with the 
people of Ghent, and entered into quiet possession of the 
province. In the same year the duchess of Brabant, the 
lasl descendant of the duke of that province, died, leaving no 
nearer relative than the duchess of Burgundy ; so that Philip 
obtained in right of his wife this new and important accession 
to his dominions. But the consequent increase of the sove- 
reign's power was not, as is often the case, injurious to the 
liberties or happiness of the people. Philip continued to 
govern in the interest of the country, which he had the good 
sense to consider as identified with his own. He augmented 
the privileges of the towns, and negotiated for the return into 
Flanders of those merchants who had emigrated to Ger- 
4 



50 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1385. 

many and Holland during the continuance of the civil wars.* 
He thus by degrees accustomed his new subjects, so proud of 
their rights, to submit to his authority; and his peaceable 
reign was only disturbed by the fatal issue of the expedition 
of his son, John the Fearless, count of Nevers, against the 
Turks. This young prince, filled with ambition and temerity, 
was offered the command of the force sent by Charles III. of 
France to the assistance of Sigismund of Hungary in his 
war against Bajazet. Followed by a numerous body of nobles, 
[le entered on the contest, and was defeated and taken pris- 
oner by the Turks at the battle of Nicopolis. His army was 
totally destroyed, and himself only restored to liberty on the 
payment of an immense ransom.f 

John the Fearless succeeded in 1404 to the inheritance of 
all his father's dominions, with the exception of Brabant, of 
which his younger brother, Anthony of Burgundy, became 
duke. John, whose ambitious and ferocious character became 
every day more strongly developed, now aspired to tlie govern- 
ment of France during the insanity of his cousin Charles VI. 
He occupied himself little with the affairs of the Nether- 
lands, from which he only desired to draw supplies of men. 
But the Flemings, taking no interest in his personal views or 
private projects, and equally indifferent to the rivalry of Eng- 
land and France which now began so fearfully to afHict the 
latter kingdom, forced their ambitious count to declare their 
province a neutral country ;| so that the English merchants 
were admitted as usual to trade in all the ports of Flanders, 
and the Flemings equally well received in England, while 
the duke made open war against Great Britain in his quality 
of a prince of France and sovereign of Burgundy. This is 
probably the earliest well-establislied instance of such a dis- 
tinction between the prince and tlie people. 

Anthony duke of Brabant, the brother of Philip, was not 
so closely restricted in his authority and wishes. He led all 
the nobles of the province to take part in the quarrels of 
France ; and he suffered the penalty of his rashness, in meet- 
ing his death in the battle of Agincourt. But the duchy 
suffered nothing by this event, for the militia of the country 
had not followed their duke and his nobles to the war ; and a 
national council was now established, consisting of elevei 
persons, two of whom were ecclesiastics, three barons, tw 
knights, and four commoners. This council, foxmed on prin 
ciples so fairly popular, conducted the public affairs with 
great wisdom during the minority of the young duke. Each 

* Ourlejrheist. Cliron. Vlaond. t De Barante, t. ii. | IVIeyenis. 



1404. JOHN OF BAVARIA. 51 

province seems thus to have governed itself upon principles 
of republican independence. The sovereigns could not at 
discretion, or by the want of it, play the bloody game of war 
for their mere amusement ; and the emperor putting in his 
claim at this epoch to his ancient rights of sovereignty over 
Brabant, as an imperial fief, the council and the people treated 
the demand v/ith derision. 

The spirit of constitutional liberty and legal equality which 
now animated the various provinces, is strongly marked in 
the history of the time by two striking and characteristic in- 
cidents. At the death of Philip the Bold, his widow deposited 
on his tomb her purse, and the keys which she carried at her 
girdle in token of marriage; and by this humiliating cere- 
mony she renounced her rights to a succession overloaded 
with her husband's debts. '^ In the same year (1404) the 
widow of Albert count of Holland and Hainault, finding her- 
self in similar circumstances, required of the bailiff of Hol- 
land and the judges of his court permission to make a like 
renunciation. The claim was granted ; and to fulfil the re- 
quisite ceremony; she walked at the head of the funeral pro- 
cession, carrying in her hand a blade of straw, which she 
placed on the coffin.f We thus find that in such cases the 
reigning families were held liable to follow the common 
usages of the country. From such instances there required 
but little progress in the principle of equality to reach the 
republican contempt for rank, which made the citizens of 
Bruges in the following century arrest their count for his 
priva te debts. 

The spirit of independence had reached the same point at 
Liege. The families of the counts of Holland and Hainault, 
which were at this time distinguished by the name of Ba- 
varia, because they were only descended from the ancient 
counts of Netherland extraction in the female line, had suffi- 
cient influence to obtain the nomination to the bishopric for 
a prince who was at the period in his infancy. John of Ba- 
varia, — for so he was called, and to his name was afterwards 
added the epithet of " the Pitiless," — on reaching his ma- 
jority, did not think it necessary to cause himself to be con- 
secrated a priest, but governed as a lay sovereign. The in- 
dignant citizens of Liege expelled him, and chose another 
bishop. But the houses of Burgundy and Bavaria, closely 
allied by intermarriages, made common cause in his quarrel ; 
and John duke of Burgundy, and William IV. count of Hol- 

* Monstrelet. t. i. t Wagenaar, Hist. Van Vaderland. 



52 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1416. 

land and Hainault, brother of the bishop, replaced by force 
tliis cruel and unworthy prelate. 

This union of the government over all the provinces in 
two families so closely connected, rendered the preponder^ 
ance of the rulers too strong- for that balance hitherto kept 
steady by the popular force. The former could on each new 
quarrel join together, and employ against any particular town 
their whole united resources ; whereas the latter could only 
act by isolated efforts for the maintenance of their separate 
rights. Such was the cause of a considerable decline in 
public liberty during the fifteenth century. It is true that 
John the Fearless gave almost his whole attention to his 
French political intrigues, and to the fierce quarrels which 
he maintained with the house of Orleans. But his nephew, 
John duke of Brabant, having married, in 1416, his cousin 
Jacqueline, daughter and heiress of William IV. count of 
Holland and Hainault, this branch of the house of Burgundy 
seemed to get the start of the elder in its progressive influ- 
ence over the provinces of the Netherlands. The dukes of 
Guelders, who had changed their title of counts for one of 
superior rank, acquired no accession of power proportioned 
to their new dignity. The bishops of Utrecht became by 
degrees weaker ; private dissensions enfeebled Friesland ; 
Luxembourg was a poor unimportant dukedom ; but Holland, 
Hainault, and Brabant, formed the very heart of the Nether- 
lands ; while the elder branch of the same family, under 
whom they were united, possessed Flanders, Artois, and the 
two Burgundys. To complete the prosperity and power of 
this latter branch, it was soon destined to inherit the entire 
dominions of the other. 

A fact, the consequences of which were so important for 
the entire of Europe, merits considerable attention ; but it is 
most difficult to explain at once concisely and clearly the 
series of accidents, manoeuvres, tricks, and crimes, by which 
it was accomplished. It must first be remarked, that this 
John of Brabant, become the husband of his cousin Jacqueline 
countess of Holland and Hainault, possessed neither the 
moral nor physical qualities suited to mate with the most love- 
ly, intrepid, and talented woman of her times ; nor the vigor 
and firmness required for the maintenance of an increased, 
and for those days a considerable, dominion. Jacqueline 
thoroughly despised her insignificant husband ; first in secret, 
and subsequently by those open avowals forced from her by 
his revolting combination of weakness, cowardice, and tyran- 
ny. He tamely allowed the province of Holland to be in- 
vaded by the same ungrateful bishop of Liege, John the Piti- 



14.'U. PHILIP OF BURGUNDY. 5*3 

less, whom his wife's father and his own uncle had re-estab- 
lished in his justly forfeited authority. But John of Brabant 
revenged himself for his wife's contempt by a series of do- 
mestic persecutions so odious, that the states of Brabant in- 
terfered for her protection. Finding it, however, impossible 
to remain in a perpetual contest with a husband whom she 
hated and despised, she fled from Brussels, where he held his 
ducal court, and took refuge in England, under the protection 
of Henry V., at that time in the plenitude of his fame and 
power.* 

England at this epoch enjoyed the proudest station in Euro- 
pean affairs. John the Fearless, after having caused the 
murder of his rival the duke of Orleans, was himself assassi- 
nated on the bridge of Montereau, by the followers of the 
dauphin of France, and in his presence. Philip duke of Bur- 
gundy, the son and successor of Jolm, had formed a close alli- 
ance with Henry V., to revenge his father's murder; and 
soon after the death of the king he married his sister, and 
thus united himself still more nearly to the celebrated John 
■duke of Bedford, brother of Henry, and regent of France, in 
the name of his mfant nephew, Henry VI. But besides the 
share on which he reckoned in the spoils of France, Philip 
also looked v/ith a covetous eye on the inheritance of Jacque- 
line, his cousin. As soon as he had learned that this princess, 
so well received in England, was taking measures for having 
her m.arriage annulled, to enable her to espouse the duke of 
Gloucester, also the brother of Henry V., and subsequently 
known by the appellation of " the good duke Humphrey," 
he was tormented by a double anxiety. He, in the first place, 
dreaded that Jacqueline might have children by her projected 
marriage with Gloucester, (a circumstance neither likely, 
nor even possible, in the opinion of some historians, to result 
from her union with John of Brabant,f ) and thus deprive him 
of his right of succession to iier states ; and in the next, he 
was jealous of the possible domination of England in the 
Netherlands as well as in France. He therefore soon became 
self-absolved from all his vows of revenge in the cause of his 
murdered fa-ther, and labored solely for th^ object of his per- 
sonal aggrandizement. To break his connexion with Bed- 
ford ; to treat secretly with the dauphin, his father's assassin, 
or at least the witness and warrant for his assassination ; and 
to shuffle from party to party as occasion required ; were 
movements of no difficulty to Philip, surnamed " the Good." 
He openly espoused the cause of his infamous relative John 

* Monstrelet. t Hume, vol. iii. p. 133. 



54 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLA?S'DS. 14136 

of Brabant ; sent a powerful army into Hainault, which Glou- 
cester vainly strove to defend in right of his affianced wife ; 
and next seized on Holland and Zealand, where he met with 
a long but ineffectual resistance on the part of the courageous 
woman he so mercilessly oppressed. Jacqueline, deprived of 
the assistance of her staunch but ruined friends,* and aban- 
doned by Gloucester, (who, on the refusal of pope Martin V. 
to sanction her divorce, had married another woman, and but 
feebly aided the efforts of the former to maintain her rights,) 
was now left a widow by the death of John of Brabant. But 
Philip, without a shadow of justice, pursued his designs 
against her dominions, and finally despoiled her of her last 
possessions, and even of the title of countess, which she for- 
feited by her marriage with Vrank Van Borselen, a gentle- 
man of Zealand, contrary to a compact to which Philip's tyr- 
anny had forced her to consent. After a career the most 
chequered and romantic which is recorded in history, the 
beautiful and hitherto unfortunate Jacqueline found repose 
and happiness in the tranquillity of private life; and her 
death in 1436, at the age of thirty-six, removed all restraint 
from Philip's thirst for aggrandizement, in the indulgence 
of which he drowned his remorse. As if fortune had con- 
spired for the rapid consolidation of his greatness, the death 
of Philip count of St. Pol, who had succeeded his brother 
John in the dukedom of Brabant, gave him the sovereignty 
of that extensive province ; and his dominions soon extended 
to the very limits of Picardy, by the peace of Arras, con- 
cluded with the dauphin, now become Charles VII., and by 
his finally contracting a strict alliance with France. 

Philip of Burgundy, thus become sovereign of dominions 
at once so extensive and compact, had the precaution and ad- 
dress to obtain from the emperor a formal renunciation of his 
existing, though almost nominal, rights as lord paramount. 
He next purchased the title of the duchess of Luxembourg 
to that duchy ; and thus the states of the house of Burgundy 
gained an extent about equal to that of the existing kingdom 

* We must not omit to notice the existence of two factions, wliich, for 
near two centuries, divided and agitated the whole population of Holland 
and Zealand. One bore the title of Hoeks (fishing-hooks;) the other was 
called Kaabeljauws (cod-fish.) The origin of these burlesque denominations 
was a dispute between two parties at a feast, as to whether the cod-fish 
took the hook, or the hook the cod-fish ? This api)arent!y frivolous dispute 
was made the pretext for a serious quarrel ; and the partisans of the nobles 
and those of the towns ranged themselves at either side, and assumed differ- 
ent badges of distinction. The Hoeks, partisans of the towns, wore red 
caps; the Kaabeljauws wore gray ones. In Jacqueline's quarrel with Philip 
of Burgundy, she was sujjported by the former; and it was not till the year 
1492 that the extinction of that popular and turbulent faction struck a final 
blow to the dissensions of both. 



1451). REBELLION OF GHENT. 55 

of the Netherlands. For although on the north and east they 
did not mclude Friesland, the bishopric of Utrecht, Guelders, 
or the province of Liege, still on the south and west they 
comprised French Flanders, the Boulonnais, Artois, and a 
part of Picardy, besides Burgundy. But it has been already 
seen bow limited an authority was possessed by the rulers 
of the maritime provinces. Flanders in particular, the most 
populous and wealthy, strictly preserved its republican insti- 
tutions. Ghent and Bruges were the two great towns of the 
province, and each maintained its individual authority over 
its respective territory, witli great indifference to the will or 
the wishes of the sovereign duke. Philip, however, had the 
policy to divide most effectually these rival towns. After 
havmg fallen into the hands of the people of Bruges, whom 
he made a vain attempt to surprise, and who massacred num- 
bers of his followers before his eyes, he forced them to sub- 
mission by the assistance of the citizens of Ghent, who sanc- 
tioned the banishment of the chief men of the vanquished 
town.* But some years later Ghent was in its turn oppressed 
and punished for having resisted the payment of some new 
tax. It found no support from the rest of Fhmders. Never- 
theless this powerful city singly maintained the war for the 
space of two years : but the intrepid burghers finally yielded 
to the veterans of the duke, formed to victory in the French 
wars. The principal privileges of Ghent were on this occa- 
sion revoked and annulled.f 

During these transactions the province of Holland, which 
enjoyed a degree of liberty almost equal to Flanders, had de- 
clared war against the Hanseatic towns on its own proper 
authority. Supported by Zealand, which formed a distinct 
country, but was strictly united to it by a common interest, 
Holland equipped a fleet against the pirates which infested 
their coasts and assailed their commerce, and soon forced 
them to submission. Philip in the mean time contrived to 
manage the conflicting elements of his power with great 
subtlety. Notwithstanding his ambitious and despotic char- 
acter, he conducted himself so cautiously, that his people by 
common consent confirmed his title of "the Good," which 
was somewhat inappropriately given to him at the very epoch 
when he appeared to deserve it least. Age and exhaustion 
may be adduced among the causes of the toleration which 
signalized his latter years ; and if he was the usurper of some 
parts of his dominions, he cannot be pronounced a tyrant 
over any. 

* Oudnsrlievsf. t ^e Karanfe, t. vi. 



OQ HISTOKY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 14(57. 

Philip had an only son, born and reared in the midst of 
tliat ostentatious greatness which he looked on as his own by 
divine right; whereas his father remembered that it had 
chiefly become his by fortuitous acquirement, and much of it 
by means not likely to look well in the sight of Heaven. This 
son was Charles count of Charolois, afterwards celebrated 
under the name of Charles the Rash. He gave, even in the 
lifetime of his father, a striking specimen of despotism tc 
the people of Holland. Appointed stadtholder of that province 
in 1457, he appropriated to himself several important suc- 
cessions ; forced the inhabitants to labor in the formation of 
dikes for the security of the property thus acquired ; and, in 
1 word, conducted himself as an absolute master.* Soon after- 
wards he broke out into open opposition to his father, who 
had complained of this undutiful and impetuous son to the 
states of the provinces, venting his grief in lamentations in- 
stead of punishing his people's wrongs. But his private 
rage burst forth one day in a manner as furious as his public 
expressions were tame. He went so far as to draw his 
sword on Charles and pursue him through his palace :f and a 
disgusting yet instructive spectacle it was, to see this father 
and son m mutual and disgraceful discord, like two birds 
of prey quarrelling in the same eyrie ; the old count out- 
rageous to find he was no longer undisputed sovereign, and 
the young one in feeling that he had not yet become so. But 
Philip was declining daily. Yet even when dying he pre- 
served his natural haughtiness and energy ; and being pro- 
voked by the insubordination of the people of Liege, he had 
himself carried to the scene of their punishment. The re- 
fractory town of Dinant, on the Meuse, was utterly destroyed 
by the two counts, and 600 of the citizens drowned in the 
river, and in cold blood. The following year Philip expired, 
leaving to Charles his long-wished-for inheritance. 

The reign of Philip had produced a revolution in Belgian 
manners ; for his example and the great increase of wealth 
had introduced habits of luxury hitherto quite unknown. He 
had also brought into fashion romantic notions of military 
honor, love, and chivalry ; which, while they . certainly soft- 
ened the character of the nobility, contained nevertheless a 
certain mixture of frivolity and extravagance. The cele- 
brated order of the Golden Fleece, which was introduced by 
Philip, was less an institution based on grounds of rational 
magnificence, than a puerile emblem of his passion for Isa- 
bella of Portugal, his third wife. The verses of a contempo- 

* Preuves et Additions sur Comines, t. iv. t Chronique de Hollande. 



1467. CHAKLES THE KASH. 57 

rary poet induced him to make a vow for the conquest of 
Constantinople from the Turks.* He certainly never at- 
tempted to execute this senseless crusade ; but he did not 
omit so fair an opportunity for levying' new taxes on his 
people. And it is undoubted, that the splendor of his court 
and the immorality of his example were no slight sources 
of corruption to the countries which he governed. 

In this respect, at least, a totally different kind of govern- 
ment was looked for on the part of his son and successor, 
who was by nature and habit a mere soldier. Charles began 
his career by seizing on all the money and jewels left by his 
father; he next dismissed the crowd of useless functionari'^s 
who had fed upon, under the pretence of managing, the 
treasures of the state. But this salutary and sweeping re- 
form was only effected to enable the sovereign to pursue un- 
controlled the most fatal of all passions, that of war. Nothmg 
can better paint the true character of this haughty and 
impetuous prince than his crest (a branch of holly,) and his 
motto, " Who touches it, pricks himself." Charles had con- 
ceived a furious and not ill-founded hatred for his base yet 
formidable neighbor and rival, Louis XI. of France. The 
latter had succeeded in obtaining from Philip the restitution 
of some towns in Picardy ; cause sufficient to excite the 
resentment of liis inflammable successor, who, during his 
father's lifetime, took open part with some of the vassals of 
France in a temporary struggle against the throne. Louis, 
who had been worsted in a combat where both he and 
Charles bore a part, was not behindhand in his hatred. But 
inasmuch as one was haughty, audacious, and intemperate, 
the other was cunning, cool, and treacherous. Charles was 
the proudest, most daring, and most unmanageable prince 
that ever made the sword the type and the guarantee of 
greatness ; Louis the most subtle, dissimulating, and treacher- 
ous king that ever wove in his closet a tissue of hollow 
diplomacy and bad faith in government. The struggle be- 
tween these sovereigns was unequal only in respect to this 
difference of character ; for France, subdivided as it still was, 
and exhausted by the wars with England, was not compara- 
ble, either as regarded men, money, or the other resources ct 
the state, to the compact and prosperous dominions of Bur- 
gundy. 

Charles showed some symptoms of good sense and great- 
ness of mind, soon after his accession to power, that gave a 
false coloring to his disposition, and encouraged illusory 



* Monstrelet. Olivier de la Mirche. 



5y HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1468 

hopes as to his future career. Scarcely was he proclaimed 
count of Flanders at Ghent, when the populace, surrounding- 
his hotel, absolutely insisted on and extorted his consent to 
the restitution of their ancient privileges.* Furious as Charles 
was at this bold proof of insubordination, he did not revenge 
it ; and he treated with equal indulgence the city of Mechlin, 
which had expelled its governor and rased the citadel. The 
people of Liege, having revolted against their bishop, Louis 
of Bourbon, who was closely connected with the house of 
Burgundy, were defeated by the duke in 1467, but he treated 
them with clemency ; and immediately after this event, in 
February 1468, he concluded with Edward IV. of England 
an alliance, oifensive and defensive, against France.f 

The real motive of this alliance was rivalry and hatred 
against Louis. The ostensible pretext was this monarch's 
having made war against the duke of Britany, Charles's old 
ally in the short contest in which he, while yet but count, 
had measured his strength with his rival after he became 
king. The present union between England and Burgundy 
was too powerful not to alarm . Louis ; he demanded an 
explanatory conference with Charles, and the town of Pe- 
ronne in Picardy was fixed on for their meeting. Louis, 
willing to imitate the boldness of his rival, Vviio had formerly 
come to meet him in the very midst of his army, now came to 
the rendezvous almost alone. But he was severely mortified, 
and near paying a greater penalty than fright, for this 
hazardous conduct. The duke, having received intelligence 
of a new revolt at Liege excited by some of the agents of 
France, instantly made Louis prisoner, in defiance of every 
law of honor or fair dealing. The excess of his rage and 
hatred might have carried him to a more disgraceful ex- 
tremity, had not Louis, by force of bribery, gained over some 
of his most influential counsellors, who succeeded in appeas- 
ing his rage. He contented himself with humiliating, when 
he was disposed to punish. He forced his captive to accom- 
pany him to Liege, and witness the ruin of this unfortunate 
town, which he delivered over to plunder ; and ht.ving giv3n 
this lesson to Louis, he set him at liberty. 

From this period there was a marked and material change 
in the conduct of Charles. He had been previously moved 
by sentiments of chivalry and notions of greatness. But sul 
lied by his act of public treachery and violence towards the 
monarch who had, at least in seeming, manifested unlimited 
confidence in his honor, a secret sense of shame embittered 

* Philip de Cominen. t^^ymer, vol. v. p. 11. 



14T2. ("HARLEo's PLAXS OF AGGMANDIZ;E3IEA'T. 59 

his feelings and soured his temper. He became so insup- 
portable to those around him, that he was abandoned by sev- 
eral of his best officers, and even by his natural brother, 
Baldwin of Burgundy, who passed over to the side of Louis. 
Charles was at this time embarrassed by the expense of en- 
tertaining and maintaining Edward IV. and numerous Eng- 
lish exiles, who were forced to take refuge in the Netherlands 
by the successes of the earl of Warwick, who had replaced 
Henry VI. on the throne."^ Charles at the same time held 
out to several princes in Europe hopes of bestowing on them 
in marriage his only daughter and heiress Mary, vAiile he 
privately assured his friends, if his courtiers and ministers 
may be so called, " that he never meant to have a son-in-law 
until he was disposed to make himself a monk." In a word, 
he was no longer guided by any principle but that of fierce 
and brutal selfishness. 

In this mood he soon became tired of the service of his 
nobles and of the national militia, who only maintained to- 
wards him a forced and modified obedience founded on the 
usages and rights of their several provinces ; and he took 
into his pay all sorts of adventurers and vagabonds who were 
willing to submit to him as their absolute master. When 
the taxes necessary for the support and pay of these bands of 
mercenaries caused the people to murmur, Charles laughed 
at their complaints, and severely punished some of the most 
refractory. He then entered France at the head of his army, 
to assist the duke of Britany ; but at the moment when no- 
thing seemed to oppose the most extensive views of his am- 
bition, he lost by his hot-brained caprice every advantage 
within his easy reach : he chose to sit down before Beauvais ; 
and thus made of this town, which lay in his road, a complete 
stumbling-block on his path of conquest. The time he lost 
before its walls caused the defeat and ruin of his unsupported, 
or as might be said his abandoned, ally, who made the best 
terms he could with Louis ; and thus Charles's presumption 
and obstinacy paralyzed ail the efforts of his courage and 
power. But he soon afterwards acquired the duchy of Gueld- 
ers from the old duke Arnoul, who had been temporarily 
despoiled of it by his son Adolphus. It was almost an heredi- 
tary consequence in this family that the children should 
revolt and rebel against their parents. Adolphus had the 
effrontery to found his justification on the argument, that his 
father having reigned forty-four years, he was fully entitled 
to his share — a fine practical authority for greedy and expect- 

* Philip de Comines, 1. v. 



60 HISTORY OF THE NETHEELAXDy. 1 47'3. 

ant heirs. The old father replied to this reasoning by offer- 
ing to meet his son in single combat.* Charles cut short the 
affair by making Adolphus prisoner and seizing on the dis- 
puted territory, for which he, however, paid Arnoul the sum 
of 220,000 florins. 

After this acquisition Charles conceived and had much at 
heart the design of becoming king, the first time that the 
Netherlands were considered sufficiently important and con- 
solidated to entitle their possessor to that title. To lead to 
this object he offered to the emperor of Germany the hand of 
his daughter Mary for his son Maximilian. The emperor ac- 
ceded to this proposition, and repaired to the city of Treves 
to meet Charles and countenance his coronation. But the 
insolence and selfishness of the latter put an end to the pro- 
ject. He humiliated the emperor, who was of a niggardly 
and mean-spirited disposition, by appearing with a train so 
numerous and sumptuous as totally to eclipse the imperial 
retinue ; and deeply offended him by wishing to postpone the 
marriage, from his jealousy of creating for himself a rival in 
a son-in-law, who might embitter his old age as he had 
done that of his own father. The mortified emperor quitted 
the place in high dudgeon, and the projected kingdom was 
doomed to a delay of some centuries. 

Charles, urged on by the double motive of thirst for ag- 
grandizement and vexation at his late failure, attempted, 
under pretext of some internal dissensions, to gain possession 
of Cologne and its territory, which belonged to the empire ; 
and at the same time planned the invasion of France, in con- 
cert v/ith his brother-in-law Edward IV., who had recovered 
possession of England. But the town of Nuys, in the arch- 
fjishopric of Cologne, occupied him a full year before its walls. 
The emperor, who came to its succor, actually besieged the 
besiegers in their camp ; and the dispute was terminated by 
leaving it to the arbitration of the pope's legate, and placing 
the contested town in his keeping. This half triumph gained 
by Charles saved Louis wholly from destruction. Edward, 
who had landed in France with a niunerous force, seeing no 
appearance of his Burgundian allies, made peace with Louis; 
and Charles, who arrived in all haste, but not till after the 
treaty was signed, upbraided and abused the English king, 
and turned a warm friend into an inveterate enemy. 

Louis, whose crooked policy had so far succeeded on all 
occasions, now seemed to favor Charles's plans of aggran- 
dizement, and to recognize his pretended right to Lorraine, 

♦ Comines, t. iv. 



1473. CHARLES DEFEATED BY THE SWISS. 61 

which legitimately belonged to the empire, and the invasion 
of which by Charles would be sure to set him at variance 
with the whole of Germany. The infatuated duke, blind tc 
the ruin to which he was thus hurrying, abandoned to Louis, 
in return for this insidious support, the constable of St. Pol ^ 
a nobleman who had long maintained his independence in 
Picardy, where he had large possessions, and who was fitted 
to be a valuable friend or formidable enemy to either. Charles 
now marched against, and soon overcame, Lorraine. Thence 
he turned his army against the Swiss, who were allies to the 
conquered province, but who sent the most submissive dis- 
suasions to the invader. They begged for peace, assuring 
Charles that their romantic but sterile mountains were not 
altogether worth the bridles of his splendidly equipped caval- 
ry. But the more they humbled themselves, the higher was 
his haughtiness raised. It appeared that he had at this pe- 
riod conceived the project of uniting in one common conquest 
the ancient dominions of Lothaire L, who had possessed the 
whole of the countries traversed by the Rhine, the Rhone, 
and the Po; and he even spoke of passing the Alps, like 
Hannibal, for the invasion of Italy. 

Switzerland was, by moral analogy as well as physical 
fact, the rock against which these extravagant projects were 
shattered. The army of Charles, which engaged the hardy 
mountaineers in the gorges of the Alps near the town of 
Granson, were literally crushed to atoms by the stones and 
fragments of g¥anite detached from the heights and hurled 
down upon their heads. Charles, after this defeat, returned 
to the charge six weeks later, having rallied his army and 
drawn reinforcements from Burgundy. But Louis had dis- 
patched a body of cavalry to the Swiss, — a force in which 
they were before deficient ; and thus augmented, their army 
amounted to 34,000 men. They took up a position, skilfully 
chosen, on the borders of the lake of Morat, where they were 
attacked by Charles at the head 60,000 soldiers of all ranks. 
The result was the total defeat of the latter, with the loss of 
10,000 killed, whose bones, gathered into an immense heap, 
and bleaching in the winds, remained for above three centu- 
ries ;* a terrible monument of rashness and injustice on the 
one hand, and of patriotism and valor on the other. 

Charles was now plunged into a state of profound melan- 
choly ; but he soon burst from this gloomy mood into one of 
renewed fierceness and fatal desperation. Nine months after 
the battle of Morat he re-entered Lorraine, at the head of an 

* Gaudin, Abrege cle VUir,t. de la Suisse, p 63. 



62 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1477. 

army, not composed of his faithful militia of the Netherlands, 
but of those mercenaries in whom it was madness to place 
trust. The reinforcements meant to be dispatched to him by 
those provinces wer.- kept back by the artifices of the count 
of Campo Basso, an xtalian, who commanded his cavalry, and 
who only gained his confidence basely to betray it. Rene 
duke of Lorraine, at the head of the confederate forces, 
ffered battle to Charles under the walls of Nancy ; and tJic 
night before the combat Campo Basso went over to the enemy 
with the troops under his command. Still Charles had the 
way open for retreat. Fresh troops from Burgundy and 
Flanders were on their march to join him ; but he would not 
be dissuaded from his resolution to fight, and he resolved to 
try his fortune once more with his dispirited and shattered 
army. On this occasion the fate of Charles was decided, and 
the fortune of Louis triumphant. The rash and ill-fated 
duke lost both the battle and his lite.f His body, mutilated 
with wounds, was found the next day, and buried with great 
pomp in the town of Nancy, by the orders of the generous 
victor, the duke of Lorraine. 

Thus perished the last prince of the powerful house of 
Burgundy. Charles left to his only daughter, then eighteen 
years of age, the inheritance-of his extensive dominions, and 
with them that of the hatred and jealousy which he had so 
largely excited. External spoliation immediately commenced, 
and internal disunion quickly followed. Louis XL seized on 
Burgundy and a part of Artois, as fiefs devolving to the 
crown in default of male issue. Several of the provinces 
refused to pay the new subsidies commanded in the name of 
Mary; Flanders alone showing a disposition to uphold the 
rights of the young princess. The states were assembled at 
Ghent, and ambassadors sent to the king of France, in the 
hopes of obtaining peace on reasonable terms. Louis, true 
to his system of subtle perfidy, placed before one of those 
ambassadors, the burgomaster of Ghent, a letter from the in- 
experienced princess, which proved her intention to govern 
by the counsel of her father's ancient ministers, rather than 
by that of the deputies of the nation. This was enough to 
decide the indignant Flemings to render themselves at once 
masters of the government, and get rid of the ministers 
whom they hated. Two Burgundian nobles, Hugonet and 
Imbercourt, were arrested, accused of treason, and beheaded 
inder the very eyes of their agonized and outraged mistress, 
who threw herself before the frenzied multitude, vainly im- 

tStli Jan. 1177. 



1484. MAKY AND MAXIMlLIA?s% 63 

ploring mercy for these innocent men. The people having 
thus completely gained the upper hand over the Burgundian 
mflueiice, Mary was sovereign of the Netherlands but in 
name. 

It would have now been easy for Louis XI. to have obtained 
for the dauphin, his son, the hand of this hitherto unfortunate 
but interesting princess ; but he thought hunself sufficiently 
cstrong and cunning to gain possession of her states without 
such an alliance. Mary, hov/ever, thus in some measure dis- 
dained, if not actually rejected, by Louis, soon after married 
her first-intended husband, Maximilian of Austria, son of the 
emperor Frederick III. ; a prince so absolutely destitute, in 
consequence of his father's parsimony, that she was obliged 
to borrow money from the towns of Flanders to defray the 
expenses of his suite.* Nevertheless he seemed equally ac- 
ceptable to his bride and to his new subjects. They not only 
supplied all his wants, but enabled him to maintain the wai 
against Louis XL, whom they defeated at the battle of Guine- 
gate m Picardy, and forced to make peace on more favorable 
terms than they had hoped for. But these wealthy provinces 
were not more zealous for the national defence, than bent on 
the maintenance of their local privileges, which Maximilian 
little understood, and sympathized with less. He was bred 
in the school of absolute despotism ; and his duchess having 
met with a too early death by a fall from her horse in the 
year 1484, he could not even succeed in obtaining the nomina- 
tion of guardian to his own children without passing through 
a year of civil war. His power being almost nominal in the 
northern provinces, he vainly attempted to suppress tlie 
violence of the factions of Hoeks and Kaabeljauws. In Flan- 
ders his authority was openly resisted. The turbulent tovv^ns 
of that country, and particularly Bruges, taking umbrage at 
a government half German half Burgundian, and altogether 
hateful to the people, rose up against Maximilian, seized on 
his person, imprisoned him in a house which still exists, and 
put to death his most faithful followers. But the fury of 
Ghent and other places becoming still more outrageous, 
Maximilian asked as a favor from his rebel subjects of Bruges 
to be guarded w^hile a prisoner by them alone.f He was then 
king of the Romans, and all Europe became interested in his 
fate. The pope addressed a brief to the town of Bruges, 
demanding his deliverance. But the burghers were as inflexi- 
ble as factious; and thev at length released him, but not 
until they had concluded with him and the assembled states a 

* Comiiics, t. vi. t Hontertia. 1. iii. 



64 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1493. 

treaty, which most amply secured the enjoyment of their 
privileges and the pardon of their rebellion. 

But these kind of compacts were never observed by the 
princes of those days beyond the actual period of their capa- 
city to violate them. The emperor having entered the 
Netherlands at the head of 40,000 men, Maximilian, so sup- 
ported, soon showed his contempt for the obligations he had 
sworn to, and had recourse to force for the extension of his 
authority. The valor of the Flemings and the military talents 
of their leader, Philip of Cleves, thwarted all his projects, 
and a new compromise was entered into. Flanders paid a 
large subsidy, and held fast her rights. The German troops 
were sent into Holland, and employed for the extinction of 
the Hoeks ; who, as they formed by far the weaker faction, 
were now soon destroyed. That province, which had been 
so long distracted by its intestine feuds, and which had con- 
sequently played but an insignificant part in the transactions 
of the Netherlands, now resumed its place ; and acquired 
thenceforth new honor, till it at length came to figure in all 
the importance of historical distinction. 

The situation of the Netherlands was now extrem.ely pre- 
carious and difficult to manage, during the unstable sway of 
a government so weak as Maximilian's. But he having suc- 
ceeded his father on the imperial throne in 1493, and his 
son Philip having been proclaimed the following year duke 
and count of the various provinces at the age of sixteen, a 
more pleasing prospect was offered to the people. Philip, 
young, handsome, and descended by his mother from the an- 
cient sovereigns of the country, was joyfully hailed by all the 
towns. He did not belie the hopes so enthusiastically ex- 
pressed. He had the good sense to renounce all pretensions 
to Friesland, the fertile source of many preceding quarrels 
and sacrifices. He re-established the ancient commercial 
relations with England, to which country Maxunilian had 
given mortal oflfence by sustaining the imposture of Perkin 
Warbeck. Philip also consulted the states-general on his 
projects of a double alliance between himself and his sister 
with the son and daughter of Ferdinand king of Aragon and 
Isabella queen of Castile ; and from this wise precaution the 
project soon became one of national partiality instead of pri- 
vate or personal interest. In this manner complete harmony 
was established between the young prince and the inhabit- 
ants of the Netherlands. All the ills produced by civil war 
disappeared with immense rapidity in Flanders and Brabant, 
as soon as peace was thus consolidated. Even Holland, though 
it had particularly felt the scourge of these dissensions, and 



1493. PHILIP THE FAIR. 65 

suffered severely from repeated inundations, began to recover. 
Yet for all this, Philip can be scarcely called a good prince : 
his merits were negative rather than real. But that sufficed 
for the nation ; v^hich found in the nullity of its sovereign no 
obstacle to the resumption of that prosperous career which 
had been checked by the despotism of the house of Bur- 
gundy, and the attempts of Maximilian to continue the same 
system. 

The reign of Philip, unfortunately a short one, was ren- 
dered remarkable by two mtestine quarrels ; one in Fries- 
land, the other in Guelders. The Frisons, who had been so 
isolated from the more important affairs of Europe that they 
were in a manner lost sight of by history for several centu- 
ries, had nevertheless their full share of domestic disputes ; 
too long, too multifarious, and too minute, to allow us to give 
more than this brief notice of their existence. But finally, 
about the period of Philip's accession, eastern Friesland had 
chosen for its count a gentleman of the country surnamed 
Edzart, who fixed the head-quarters of his military govern- 
ment at Embden. The sight of such an elevation in an in- 
dividual whose pretensions he thought far inferior to his own, 
induced Albert of Saxony, who had well served Maximilian 
against the refractory Flemings, to demand as his reward the 
title of stadtholder or hereditary governor of Fries>and. But 
it was far easier for the emperor to accede to this request 
than for his favorite to put the grant into effect. The Fri- 
sons, true to their old character, held firm to their privileges, 
and fought for their maintenance with heroic courage. Al- 
bert, furious at this resistance, had the horrid barbarity to 
cause to be impaled the chief burghers of the town of Leu- 
waarden, which he had taken by assault.* But he himself 
died in the year 1500, without succeeding in his projects of 
an ambition unjust in its principle and atrocious in its prac- 
tice. 

The war of Guelders was of a totally different nature. In 
this case it was not a question of popular resistance to a tyr- 
annical nomination, but of patriotic fidelity to the reigning 
family. Adolphus, the duke who had dethroned his father, 
had died in Flanders, leaving a son who had been brought up 
almost a captive as long as Maximilian governed the states 
of his inheritance. This young man, called Charles of Eg- 
mont, and who is honored in the history of his country under 
the title of the Achilles of Guelders, fell into the hands of 
the French during the combat in which he made his first 

* Beninga, Hist. Van Oost Frise. 



66 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1500. 

essay in arms. The town of Guelders unanimously joined 
to pay his ransom ; and as soon as he was at liberty, they one 
and all proclaimed him duke. The emperor Philip and the 
Germanic diet in vain protested against this measure, and 
declared Charles a usurper. The spirit of justice and of 
liberty spoke more loudly than the thunders of their ban ; and 
the people resolved to support to the last this scion of an an- 
cient race, glorious in much of its conduct, though often 
criminal in many of its members. Charles of Egmont found 
taithful friends in his devoted subjects ; and he maintained 
his rights, sometimes v/ith, sometimes without, the assistance 
of France, — making up for his w-ant of numbers by energy 
and enterprise. We cannot follow this warlike prince in the 
long series of adventures which consolidated his power ; nor 
stop to depict his daring adherents on land, v/ho caused the 
whole of Holland to tremble at their deeds ; nor his pirates — 
the chief of whom. Long Peter, called himself king of the 
Zuyder Zee. But amidst all the consequent troubles of such 
a struggle, it is marvellous to find Charles of Egmont up- 
holding his country in a state of high prosperity, and leaving 
it at his death almost as rich as Holland itself f 

The incapacity of Philip the Fair doubtless contributed to 
cause him the loss of this portion of his dominions. This 
prince, after his first acts of moderation and good sense, was 
remarkable only as being the father of Charles V. The re- 
mainder of his life was worn out in undignified pleasures ; 
and he died almost suddenly, in the year 1506, at Burgos in 
Castile,! whither he had r^aired to pay a visit to his brother- 
in-law, tlie "king of Spain, t 

t Van Meteren. 



f van Meteren. i 



1508. MARGARET OF AUSTRIA 67 

CHAP. VI. 
1506—1555. 

FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA TO THE ABDI 
CATION OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 

Philip being dead, and his wife, Joanna of Spain, having- 
become mad from grief at his loss, after nearly losing her 
senses from jealousy during his life, the regency of the Neth- 
erlands reverted to Maximilian, who immediately named his 
daughter Margaret governant of the country. This princess, 
scarcely twenty-seven years of age, had been, like the cele- 
brated Jacqueline of Bavaria, already three times married, 
and was now again a widow. Her first husband, Charles 
VIII. of France, had broken from his contract of marriage 
before its consummation ; her second, the Infant of Spain, 
died immediately after their union ; and her third, the duke 
of Savoy, left her again a widow after three years of wedded 
life. She was a woman of talent and courage ; both proved 
by the couplet she composed for her own epitaph, at the very 
moment of a dangerous accident which happened during her 
journey into Spain to join her second affianced spouse.* She 
was received with the greatest joy by the people of the 
Netherlands; and she governed them as peaceably as cir- 
cumstances allowed. Supported by England, she firmly 
maintained her authority against the threats of France ; and 
she carried on in person all the negotiations between Louis 
XII., Maximilian, the pope Jules II., and Ferdinand of Ara- 
gon, for the famous league of Venice. These negotiations 
took place in 1508, at Cambray ; where Margaret, if we are 
to credit an expression to that effect in one of her letters,f 
was more than once on the point of having serious differ- 
ences with the cardinal of Amboise, minister of Louis XII. 
But, besides her attention to the interests of her father on 
this important occasion, she also succeeded in repressing the 
rising pretensions of Charles of Egmont ; and, assisted by 
the interference of the king of France, she obliged him to 
give up some places in Holland which he illegally held. 



* Ci-srit Margot la gente demoisnlle, 
Qui eiit deux maris, et si nioarut pucelle. 
Ht'io jjentle Margot quietly is laid, 
Who had two husbands, and yet died a maid. 

\ Letties do Louis XII. t. i. p. 12?. 



68 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1515. 

From this period the alliance between England and Spain 
raised the commerce and manufactures of the southern prov- 
inces of the Netherlands to a high degree of prosperity, 
while the northern parts of the country were still kept down 
by their various dissensions. Holland was at war with tlie 
Hanseatic towns. The Frisons continued to struggle for 
freedom against the heirs of Albert of Saxony. Utrecht 
was at variance with its bishop, and finally recognized Charles 
of Egmont as its protector. The consequence of all these 
causes was that the south took the start in a course of pros- 
perity, which was, however, soon to become common to the 
whole nation. 

A new rupture with France, in 1513, united Maximilian, 
Margaret, and Henry VIII. of England, in one common cause. 
An English and Belgian army, in which Maximilian figured 
as a spectator (taking care to be paid by England), marched 
for the destruction of Therouenne, and defeated and dispersed 
the French at the battle of Spurs. But Louis XII. soon per- 
suaded Henry to make a separate peace ; and the unconquer- 
able duke of Guelders made Margaret and the emperor pay 
the penalty of their success against France. He pursued his 
victories in Friesland, and forced the country to recognize 
him as stadtholder of Groningen, its chief town ; while the 
duke of Saxony at length renounced to another his unjust 
claim on a territory which ingulfed both his armies and his 
treasure. 

About the same epoch (1515,) young Charles, son of Philip 
the Fair, having just attained his fifteenth year, was inaugu- 
rated duke of Brabant and count of Flanders and Holland, 
having purchased the presumed right of Saxony to the sove- 
reignty of Friesland." In the following year he was recog- 
nized as prince of Castile, in right of his mother, who asso- 
ciated him with herself in the royal power, — a step which 
soon left her merely the title of queen. Charles procured the 
nomination of bishop of Utrecht for Philip, bastard of Bur- 
gundy, which made that province completely dependent on 
him. But this event was also one of general and lasting im- 
portance on another account. This Philip of Burgundy was 
deeply affected by the doctrines of the Reformation, which 
had burst forth m Germany. He held in abhorrence the su- 
perstitious observances of the Romish church, and set his 
face against the celibacy of the clergy. His example soon 
influenced his whole diocese, and the new notions on points 
of religion became rapidly popular. It was chiefly, however, 
in Friesland that the people embraced the opinions of Luther, 
which were quite conformable to many of the local customs 



1515. PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 69 

of whicli we have already spoken. The celebrated Edzard 
count of eastern Friesland openly adopted the Reformation. 
While Erasmus of Rotterdam, without actually pronouncing- 
himself a disciple of Lutheranism, effected more than all its 
advocates to throw the abuses of Catholicism into discredit. 

We may here remark that, during the government of the 
house of Burgundy, the clergy of the Netherlands had fallen 
into considerable disrepute. Intrigue and court favor alone 
had the disposal of the benefices ; while the career of com- 
merce was open to the enterprise of every spirited and inde- 
pendent competitor. The Reformation, therefore, in the first 
instance found but a slight obstacle in the opposition of a sla- 
vish and ignorant clergy, and its progress was all at once pro- 
digious. The refusal of the dignity of emperor by Frederick 
" the wise," duke of Saxony, to whom it was offered by the 
electors, was also an event hig-hly favorable to the new opia- 
ions ; for Francis I. of France, and Charles, already king of 
Spain and sovereign of the Netherlands, both claiming the 
succession to the empire,* a sort of interregnum deprived the 
disputed dominions of a chief who might lay the heavy hand 
of power on the new-springing- doctrines of Protestantism. 
At length the intrigues of Charles, and his pretensions as 
grandson of Maximilian, having- caused him to be chosen em- 
peror, a desperate rivalry resulted between him and the 
French king, which for a while absorbed his whole attention 
and occupied all his power. 

From the earliest appearance of the Reformation, the young 
sovereig-n of so many states, having to establish his authority 
at the two extremities of Europe, could not efficiently occupy 
himself in resisting the doctrines which, despite their dis- 
honoring epithet of heresy, were doomed so soon to become 
orthodox for a great part of the Continent. While Charles 
vigorously put down the revolted Spaniards, Luther gained 
new proselytes in Germany ; so that the very g-reatness of 
the sovereignty was the cause of his impotency ; and while 
Charles's extent of dominion thus fostered the growing- Re- 
formation, his sense of honor proved the safeguard of its apos- 
tle. The intrepid Luther, boldly venturing to appear and 
plead its cause before the representative power of Germany 
assembled at the diet of Worms, was protected by the guar- 
antee of the emperor ;f unlike the celebrated and unfortunate 
John Huss, who fell a victim to his own confidence and the bad 
faith of Sigismund, in the year 1415, 

Charles was nevertheless a zealous and rigid Catholic; 

* Robertson. J Idem. 



70 jirsTORY or the Netherlands. 1525. 

and in the Low Countries, where liis authority was undis- 
puted, he proscribed the heretics, and even violated the privi- 
leges of the country by appointing functionaries for the ex- 
press purpose of their pursuit and punishment* This im- 
prudent stretch of power fostered a rising spirit of opposition ; 
for, though entertaining the best disposition to their young 
prince, the people deeply felt and loudly complained of the 
government; and thus the germs of a mighty revolution 
gradually began to be developed. 

Charles V. and Francis I. had been rivals for dignity and 
power, and they now became implacable personal enemies. 
Young, ambitious, and sanguine, they could not, without re- 
ciprocal resentment, pursue in the same field objects essen- 
tial to both. Charles, by a short but timely visit to England 
in 1520, had the address to gain over to his cause and secure 
for his purpose the powerful interest of cardinal Wolsey, and 
to make a most favorable impression on Henry VIII. ;f and 
thus strengthened, he entered on the struggle against his 
less wily enemy with infinite advantage. War was declared 
on frivolous pretexts in 1521. The French sustained it for 
some time with great valor ; but Francis being obstinately 
bent on the conquest of the Milanais, his reverses secured 
the triumph of his rival, and he fell into the hands of the im- 
perial troops at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Charles's domi- 
nions in the Netherlands suffered severely from the naval 
operations during the war ; for the French cruisers having, 
on repeated occasions, taken, pillaged, and almost destroyed 
the principal resources of the herring fishery, Holland and 
Zealand felt considerable distress, which was still further 
augmented by the famine which desolated these provinces in 
1524. 

While such calamities afflicted the northern portion of the 
Netherlands, Flanders and Brabant continued to flourish, in 
spite of temporary embarrassments. The bishop of Utrecht 
having died, his successor found himself engaged in a hope- 
less quarrel with his new diocese, already more than half 
converted to Protestantism ; and to gain a triumph over these 
enemies, even by the sacrifice of his dignity, he ceded to the 
emperor in 1527 the whole of his temporal power. The duke 
of Guelders, who then occupied the city of Utrecht, redou- 
bled his hostility at this intelligence ; and after having rav- 
aged the neighboring country, he did not lay down his arms 
till the subsequent year, having first procured an honorable 
and advantageous peace. One year more saw the term of 

* Meteven, 1. i, j Robertson. 



1584. THE ANABAPIISTS. 71 

this long'-continued state of warfare by the peace of Cambray, 
between Charles and Francis, which was signed on the 5th 
of August, 1529 * 

This peace once concluded, the industry and perseverance 
of the inhabitants of the Netherlands repaired in a short time 
the evils caused by so many wars, excited by the ambition of 
princes, but in scarcely any instance for the interest of the 
country. Little, however, was wanting to endanger this 
tranquillity, and to excite the people against each otlier on 
the score of religious dissension. The sect of Anabaptists, 
whose wild opinions were subversive of all principles of social 
order and every sentiment of natural decency, had its birth 
in Germany, and found many proselytes in the Netherlands. 
John Bokelszoon, a tailor of Leyden, one of the number, 
caused himself to be proclaimed king of Jerusalem ; and 
making himself master of the tov/n of Munster, sent out his 
disciples to preach in the neighboring countries. Mary, sis- 
ter of Charles V., and queen-dowager of Hungary, the gov- 
eriiant of the Netherlands, proposed a crusade against this 
fanatic ; wiiich was, however, totally discountenanced by the 
states. Encouraged by impimity, whole troops of these in- 
furiate sectarians, from the very extremities of Hainault, put 
themselves into motion for Munster; and notwithstanding 
the colds of February, they marched along, quite naked, ac- 
cording to the system of their sect.f The frenzy of these fanat- 
ics being increased by persecution, they projected attempts 
against several towns, and particularly against Amsterdam. 
They were easily defeated, and massacred without mercy ; 
and it was only by multiplied and horrible executions that 
their numbers were at length diminished. John Bakelszoon 
held out at Munster, which was besieged by the bishop and 
the neighboring princes. This profligate fanatic, who had 
married no less than seventeen women, had gained consider- 
able influence over tlie insensate multitude ; but he was at 
length taken and imprisoned in an iron cage, — an event 
which undeceived the greatest number of those whom he had 
persuaded of his superhuman powers.} 

The prosperity of the southern provinces proceeded rapidly 
and uninterruptedly, in consequence of the great and valua- 
ble traffic of the merchants of Flanders and Brabant, who 
exchanged their goods of native manufacture for the riches 
drawn from America and India by the Spaniards and Portu- 
guese. Antwerp had supceeded to Bruges as the general 



* Robertson. t ^- Hortens. de Anab 

J Hist. Anabapt. 



72 HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLANDS. 1589. 

ijiart of commerce, and was the most opulent town of the 
north of Europe. The expenses, estimated at 130,000 golden 
crowns,* which this city voluntarily incurred, to do honor to 
the visit of Philip, son of Charles V., are cited as a proof of 
its wealth. The value of the wool annually imported for 
manufacture into the Low Countries from England and Spain 
was calculated at 4,000,000 pieces of gold. Their herring 
fishery was unrivalled ; for even the Scotch, on whose coasts 
these fish were taken, did not attempt a competition with 
the Zealanders.f But the chief seat of prosperity was the 
south, Flanders alone was taxed for one-third of the general 
burdens of the state. Brabant paid only one-seventh less 
than Flanders. So that these two rich provinces contributed 
thirteen out of twenty-one parts of the general contribution ; 
and all the rest combined, but eight. A search for further 
or minuter proofs of the comparative state of the various di- 
visions of the country would be superfluous. 

The perpetual quarrels of Charles V. with Francis I. and 
Charles of Guelders led, as may be supposed, to a repeated 
state of exhaustion, which forced the princes to pause, til] 
the people recovered strength and resources for each fresh 
encounter. Charles rarely appeared in the Netherlands; 
fixing his residence chiefly in Spain, and leaving to his sister 
the regulation of those distant provinces. One of his occa- 
sional visits was for the purpose of inflicting a terrible exam- 
ple upon them. The people of Ghent, suspecting an im- 
proper or improvident application of the funds they had 
furnished for a new campaign, offered themselves to march 
against the French, instead of being forced to pay their quota 
of some further subsidy. The government having rejected 
this proposal, a sedition was the result, at the moment when 
Charles and Francis already negotiated one of their tempo- 
rary reconciliations. On this occasion, Charles formed the 
daring resolution of crossing the kingdom of France, to 
promptly take into his own hands the settlement of this af- 
fair — trusting to the generosity of his scarcely reconciled 
enemy not to abuse the confidence with which he risked 
himself in his power. Ghent, taken by surprise, did not dare 
to oppose the entrance of the emperor, when he appeared 
before the walls ; and the city was punished with extreme 
severity. Twenty-seven leaders of the sedition were be- 
headed ; the principal privileges of the city were withdrawn ; 
and a citadel built to hold it in check for the future. Charles 
met with neither opposition nor complaint. The province 

* Guiccianlini. Desciiptio Eolgii. f Vandergoes. Regist. t. i. 



1555. ABDICATION OF CHARLES. 73 

had so prospered under his sway, and was so flattered by the 
greatness of the sovereign, who was born in the town he so 
severely punished, that his acts of despotic harshness were 
borne without a murmur. But in the north the people did 
not view his measures so complacently : and a wide separa- 
tion in interests and opinions became manifest in the different 
divisions of the nation. 

Yet the Dutch and the Zealanders signalized themselves 
beyond all his other subjects on the occasion of two expedi- 
tions which Charles undertook against Tunis and Algiers. 
The two northern provinces furnished a greater number of 
ships than the united quotas of all the rest of his states.* But 
though Charles's gratitude did not lead him to do any thing 
in return as peculiarly favorable to these provinces, he ob- 
tained for them nevertheless a great advantage in making 
himself master of Friesland and Guelders on the death of 
Charles of Egmont. His acquisition of the latter, which took 
place in 1543, put an end to the domestic wars of the north- 
ern provinces. From that period they might fairly look for 
a futurity of union and peace ; and thus the latter years of 
Charles promised better for his country than his early ones, 
though he obtained less success in his new wars with France, 
which were not, however, signalized by any grand event on 
either side. 

Towards the end of his career, Charles redoubled his se- 
verities against the Protestants, and even introduced a modi- 
fied species of inquisition into the Netherlands, but with little 
effect towards the suppression of the reformed doctrines. The 
misunderstandings between his only son Philip and Mary of 
England, whom he had induced him to marry, and the una- 
miable disposition of this young prince, tormented him al- 
most as much as he was humiliated by the victories of Henry 
II. of France, the successor of Francis I., and the successful 
dissimulation of Maurice elector of Saxony, by whom he was 
completely outwitted, deceived, and defeated. Impelled by 
these motives, and others, perhaps, which are and must ever 
remain unknown, Charles at length decided on abdicating the 
whole of his immense possessions. He chose the city of 
Brussels as the scene of the solemnity, and the day fixed for 
it was the 25th of October, 1555.t It took place accordingly, 
in the presence of the kmg of Bohemia, the duke of Savoy, 
the dowager queens of France and Hungary, the duchess of 
Lorraine, and an immense assemblage of nobility from vari- 
ous countries. Charles resigned the empire to his brother 

* Chron. van Zealand. t Vandervynct, t. i. p. 107. 



74 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1555 

Ferdinand, already king of the Romans ; and all the rest of 
iiis dominions to his son. Soon after the ceremony, Charles 
embarked from Zealand on his voyag-e to Spain. He retired 
to the monastery of St. Justus, near the town of Placentia, 
in Estremadura. He entered this retreat in February, 1556, 
and died there on the 21st of September, 1558, in the 59th 
year of his age. The last six months of his existence, con- 
trasted with the daring vigor of his former life, formed a 
melancholy picture of timidity and superstition.* 

The whole of the provinces of the Netherlands being now 
for the first time united under one sovereign, such a junction 
marks the limits of a second epoch in their history. It would 
be a presumptuous and vain attempt to trace, in a compass so 
confined as ours, the various changes in manners and cus- 
toms which arose in these countries during a period of one 
thousand years. The extended and profound remarks of many 
celebrated writers on the state of Europe from the decline of 
the Roman power to the epoch at which we are now arrived 
must be referred to, to judge of the gradual progress of civili- 
zation through the gloom of the dark ages, till the dawn of 
enlightment which led to the grand system of European poli- 
tics commenced during the reign of Charles V.f The amaz- 
ing increase of commerce was, above all other considerations, 
the cause of the growth of liberty in tlie Netherlands. The 
Reformation opened the minds of men to that intellectual 
freedom, without which political enfranchisement is a worth- 
less privilege. The invention of printing opened a thousand 
channels to the flow of erudition and talent, and sent them 
out from the reservoirs of individual possession to fertilize the 
whole domain of human nature. War, which seems to be an 
instinct of maii, and which particular instances of heroism 
often raise to the dignity of a passion, was reduced to a sci- 
ence, and made subservient to those great principles of policy 
in which society began to perceive its only chance of durable 
good. Manufactures attained a state of high perfection, and 
went on progressively with the growth of wealth and luxury. 
The opulence of the towns of Brabant and Flanders was 
without any previous example in the state of Europe. A 
merchant of Bruges took upon himself alone the security for 
the ransom of John the Fearless, taken at the battle of Nico- 
polis, amounting to 200,000 ducats. A provost of Valencien- 
nes repaired to Paris at one of the great fairs periodically 
held there, and purchased on his own account every article 
that was for sale. At a repast given by one of the counts of 

* Robertson. f See Gibbon, Robertson, &c. 



1555. COMMERCIAL WEALTH. 75 

Flanders to the Flemish magistrates, the seats they occupied 
were unfurnished with cushions. Those proud burghers 
folded their sumptuous cloaks and sat on them. After the 
feast they were retiring without retaining these important 
and costly articles of dress ; and on a courtier reminding^hem 
of their apparent neglect, the burgomaster of Bruges replied, 
" We Flemings are not in the habit of carrying away tix^ 
cushions after diimer !"* The meetings of the different towns 
for the sports of archery were signalized by the most splen- 
did display of dress and decoration. The archers were habited 
in silk, damask, and the finest linen, and carried chains of 
gold of great weight and value. Luxury was at its height 
among women. The queen of Philip the Fair of France, on 
a visit to Bruges, exclaimed, with astonishment not unmixed 
with envy, " I thought myself the only queen here ; but I see 
six hundred others who appear more so than I." 

The court of Philip the Good seemed to carry magnificence 
and splendor to their greatest possible height. The dresses 
of both men and women at this chivalric epoch were of al- 
most incredible expense. Velvet, satin, gold, and precious 
stones, seemed the ordinary materials for the dress of either 
sex ; while the very housings of the horses sparkled with 
brilliants and cost immense sums. This absurd extravagance 
was carried so far, that Charles V. found himself forced at 
length to proclaim sumptuary laws for its repression. 

The style of the banquets given on grand occasions was 
regulated on a scale of almost puerile splendor. The banquet 
of vows given at Lille, in the year 1453, and so callru from 
the obligations entered into by some of the nobles to accom- 
pany Philip in a new crusade against the infidels, showed a 
succession of costl}^ fooleries, most amusing in the detail given 
by an eye-witness, the minutest of the chroniclers, but un- 
luckily too long to find a place in our pages. f 

Such excessive luxury naturally led to great corruption of 
manners and the commission of terrible crimes. During the 
reign of Philip de Male, there w^ere committed in the city of 
Ghent and its outskirts, in less than a year, above 1400 mur- 
ders in gambling-houses and other resorts of debauchery. | 
As early as the tenth century, the petty sovereigns established 
on the ruins of the empire of Charlemagne began the inde- 
pendent coining of money ; and the various provinces were 
during the rest of this epoch inundated with a most embar- 
rassing variety of gold, silver, and copper. Even in ages of 



* Cron. Van Vlaenderen. t See Oliver de la Marche, 1. i f. 29. 

X Oiidegherst, t, ii. 



76 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1555. 

comparative darkness, literature made feeble efforts to burst 
through the entangled weeds of superstition, ignorance, and 
war. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, history was 
greatly cultivated; and Froissart, Monstrelet, Oliver de la 
Marche, and Philip de Comines, gave to their chronicles and 
memoirs a charm of style since their days almost unrivalled. 
Poetry began to be followed with success in the Netherlands, 
in the Dutch, Flemish, and French languages ; and even be- 
fore the institution of the Floral Games in France, Belgium 
possessed its chambers of rhetoric (rederykkamers,) which 
labored to keep alive the sacred flame of poetry with more 
zeal than success. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 
these societies were established in almost every burgh of 
Flanders and Brabant ; the principal towns possessing several 
at once.* 

The arts in their several branches made considerable pro- 
gress in the Netherlands dnring this epoch. Architecture 
was greatly cultivated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
ries; most of the cathedrals and town houses being con- 
structed in that age. Their vastness, solidity, and beauty of 
design and execution, make them still speaking monuments 
of the stern magnificence and finished taste of the times. 
The patronage of Philip the Good, Charles the Rash, and 
Margaret of Austria, brought music into fashion, and led to 
its cultivation in a remarkable degree. The first musicians 
of France were drawn from Flanders ; and other professors 
from that country acquired great celebrity in Italy for their 
scieuc'fic improvements in their delightful art.f 

Painting, which had languished before the fifteenth centu- 
ry, sprung at once into a new existence from the invention 
of John Van Eyck, known better by the name of John of 
Bruges. His accidental discovery of the art of painting in 
oil quickly spread over Europe, and served to perpetuate to 
all time the records of the genius which has bequeathed its 
vivid impressions to the world. Painting on glass, polishing 
diamonds, the Carillon, lace, and tapestry, were among the 
inventions which owed their birth to the Netherlands in these 
ages, when the faculties of mankind sought so many new 
channels for mechanical development. The discovery of a 
new world by Columbus and other eminent navigators gave 
a fresh and powerful impulse to European talent, by affording 
an immense reservoir for its reward. The town of Antwerp 
was, during the reign of Charles V., the outlet for the in- 
dustry of Europe, and the receptacle for the productions of 

* De Smet. Hist, de la Belgique, t. i. p . 203. t Guicciardini 



1555. PHILIP II. 77 

all the nations of the earth. Its port was so often crowded 
with vessels, that each successive fleet was oblig-ed to wait 
long in the Scheldt before it could obtain admission for the 
discharge of its cargoes. The university of Louvain, that 
great nursery of science, was founded in 1425, and served 
greatly to the spread of knowledge, although it degenerated 
into the hot-bed of those fierce disputes which stamped on 
theology the degradation of bigotry, and drew down odium 
on a study that, if purely practised, ought only to inspire 
veneration. 

Charles V. was the first to establish a solid plan of govern- 
ment, instead of the constant fluctuations in the management 
of justice, police, and finance. He caused the edicts of the 
various sovereigns, and the municipal usages, to be embodied 
into a system of laws ; and thus gave stability and method 
to the enjoyment of the prosperity in which he left his do- 



CHAP. VII. 
1555—1566. 

FROM THE ACCESSION OF PmLIP II. OF SPAIN TO THE ESTABLISH- 
MENT OF THE INaUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS. 

It has been shown that the Netherlands were never in a 
more flourishing state than at the accession of Philip II. The 
external relations of the country presented an aspect of pros- 
perity and peace. England was closely allied to it by queen 
Mary's marriage with Philip; France, fatig-ued with war, 
had just concluded with it a five years' truce ; Germany, 
paralyzed by religious dissensions, exhausted itself in do- 
mestic quarrels; the other states were too distant or too 
weak to inspire any uneasiness ; and nothing appeared want- 
ing for the public weal. Nevertheless there was something- 
dangerous and alarming in the situation of the Low Coun- 
tries ; but the danger consisted wholly in the connexion be- 
tween the monarch and the people, and the alarm was not 
sounded till the mischief was beyond remedy. 

From the time that Charles V. was called to reign over 
Spain, he may be said to have been virtually lost to the coun- 
try of his birth. He was no longer a mere duke of Brabant 
or Limberg, a count of Flanders or Holland ; he was also 
king of Castile, Aragon, Leon, and Navarre, of Naples, and 



78 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1555. 

of Sicily. These various kingdoms had interests evidently 
opposed to those of the Low Countries, and forms of govern- 
ment far different. It was scarcely to be doubted that the 
absolute monarch of so many people would look with a jeal- 
ous eye on the institutions of those provinces which placed 
limits to his power ; and the natural consequence was, that 
he who was a legitimate king in the south soon degenerated 
into a usurping master in the north. 

But during the reign of Charles the danger was in some 
measure lessened, or at least concealed from public view, by 
the apparent facility with which he submitted to and observed 
the laws and customs of his native country. With Philip, the 
case was far different, and the results too obvious. Unin- 
formed on the Belgian character, despising the state of man- 
ners, and ignorant of the language, no sympathy attached 
him to the people. He brought with him to the throne all 
the hostile prejudices of a foreigner, without one of the kind- 
ly or considerate feelings of a compatriot. 

Spain, where this young prince had hitherto passed his 
life, was in some degree excluded from European civilization. 
A contest of seven centuries betv/een the Mahomedan tribes 
and the descendants of the Visigoths, cruel, like all civil 
wars, and, like all those of religion, not merely a contest of 
rulers, but essentially of the people, had given to the man- 
ners and feelings of this unhappy country a deep stamp of 
barbarity. The ferocity of military chieftains had become 
the basis of the government and laws. The Christian kings 
had adopted the perfidious and bloody system of the despotic 
sultans they replaced. Magnificence and tyranny, pov/er 
and cruelty, wisdom and dissimulation, respect and fear, were 
inseparably associated in the minds of a people so governed. 
They comprehended nothing in religion but a God armed 
with omnipotence and vengeance, or in politics but a king as 
terrible as the deity he represented. 

Philip, bred in this school, of slavish superstition, taught 
that he was the despot for whom it was formed, familiar with 
the degrading tactics of eastern tyranny, was at once the 
most contemptible and unfortunate of men. Isolated from 
his kind, and wisliing to appear superior to those beyond 
whom his station had placed him, he was insensible to the 
affections which soflen and ennoble human nature. He was 
perpetually filled with one idea — that of his greatness ; he 
had but one ambition — that of command ; but one enjoyment 
— that of exciting fear. Victim to this revolting selfishness, 
his heart was never fi-ee from care ; and the bitter melancholy 
of his cliaracter seemed to nourish a desire of evil-doing, 



1555. HIS CHARACTER AND POLICY. 79 

which irritated suffering often produces in man. Deceit and 
blood were his greatest, if not his only, delights. The reli- 
gious zeal which he affected, or felt, showed itself but in acts 
of cruelty ; and the fanatic bigotry w^hich inspired him form- 
ed the strongest contrast to the divine spirit of Christianity. 

Nature had endowed this ferocious being with wonderful 
penetration and unusual self-command; the first revealing 
to him the views of others, and the latter giving him the 
surest means of counteracting them, by enabling him to con- 
trol himself Although ignorant, he had a prodigious instinct 
of cunning. He wanted courage, but its place was supplied 
by the harsh obstinacy of w^ounded pride. All the corrup- 
tions of intrigue were familiar to him ; yet he often failed 
in .his most deep-laid designs, at the very moment of their 
apparent success, by the recoil of the bad faith and treachery 
with which his plans were overcharged. 

Such w^as the man who now began that terrible reign 
which menaced utter ruin to the national prosperity of the 
Netherlands. His father had already sapped its foundations, 
by encouraging foreign manners and ideas among the no- 
bility, and dazzling them with the hope of the honors and 
wealth which he had at his disposal abroad. His severe 
edicts against heresy had also begun to accustom the nation 
to religious discords and hatred. Philip soon enlarged on 
what Charles had commenced, and he unmercifully sacrificed 
the well-being of a people to the worst objects of his selfish 
ambition. 

Philip had only once visited the Netherlands before his 
accession to sovereign power. Being at that time twenty- 
two years of age, his opinions were formed and his prejudices 
deeply rooted. Every thing that he observed on this visit 
was calculated to revolt both. The frank cordiality of the 
people appeared too familiar. The expression of popular 
rights sounded like the voice of rebellion. Even the mag- 
nificence displayed in his honor offended his jealous vanity. 
From that moment he seems to have conceived an implaca 
ble aversion to the country, in which alone, of all his vast 
possessions, he could not display the power or inspire the ter- 
ror of despotism. 

The sovereign's dislike was fully equalled by the disgust 
of his subjects. His haughty severity and vexatious etiquette 
revolted their pride as well as their plain dealing ; and the 
moral qualities of their new sovereign were considered with 
lothing. The commercial and political connexion between 
the Netherlaud.s and Spain had given the tv/o people ample 
opportunities for mutual acquaintance. The dark, vindictive 



so HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1557. 

dispositions of the latter inspired a deep antipathy in those 
whom civilization had softened and liberty rendered frank 
and generous ; and the new sovereign seemed to embody all 
that was repulsive and odious in the nation of which he was 
the type. Yet Philip did not at first act in a way to make 
himself more particularly hated. He rather, by an apparent 
consideration for a few points of political interest and indi- 
vidual privilege, and particularly by the revocation of some 
of the edicts against heretics, removed the suspicions his 
earlier conduct had excited ; and his intended victims did not 
perceive that the despot sought to lull them to sleep, in the 
hopes of making them an easier prey, 

Philip knew well that force alone was insufficient to reduce 
such a people to slavery. He succeeded in persuading the 
states to grant him considerable subsidies, some of which 
were to be paid by instalments during a period of nine years. 
That was gaining a great step towards his designs, as it super- 
seded the necessity of a yearly application to the three 
orders, the guardians of the public liberty. At the same 
time he sent secret agents to Rome, to obtain the approbation 
of the pope to his insidious but most effective plan for placmg 
the whole of the clergy in dependence apon the crown. He also 
kept up the army of Spaniards and Germans which his father 
had formed on the frontiers of France ; and although he did 
not remove from their employments the functionaries already 
in place, he took care to make no new appointments to office 
among the natives of the Netherlands. 

In the midst of these cunning preparations for tyranny, 
Philip was suddenly attacked in two quarters at once ; by 
Henry II. of France, and by pope Paul IV. A prince less 
obstinate than Philip would in such circumstances have re- 
nounced, or at least postponed, his designs against the liberties 
of so important a part of his dominions, as those to which he 
was obliged to have recourse for aid in support of this double 
war. But he seemed to make every foreign consideration 
subservient to the object of domestic aggression which he 
had so much at heart. 

He, however, promptly met the threatened dangers from 
abroad. He turned his first attention towards his contest 
with the pope ; and he extricated himself from it with an 
adroitness that proved the whole force and cunning of his 
character. Having first publicly obtained the opinion of 
several doctors of theology, that he was justified in taking 
arras against the pontiff" (a point on which there was really 
no doubt,) he j^jrosecuteti the war with the utmost vigor, by 
the means of the afterwards notorious duke of Alva, at that 



1559. WARS WITH tkance and the tope. 61 

time viceroy of his Italian dominions. Paul soon yielded to 
superior skill and force, and demanded terms of peace, which 
were granted with a readiness and seeming liberality that 
astonished no one more than the defeated pontiif. But Philip's 
moderation to his enemy was far outdone by his perfidy to his 
allies. He confirmed Alva's consent to the confiscation of 
the domains of the noble Romans who had espoused his 
cause ; and thus gained a staunch and pow^erful supporter to 
all his future projects in the religious authority of the suc- 
cessor of St. Peter. 

His conduct in the conclusion of the war with France ^vas 
not less base. His army, under the command of Philibert 
Emmanuel, duke of Savoy, consisting of Belgians, Germans, 
and Spaniards, With a considerable body of English, sent by 
Mary to the assistance of her husband, penetrated into Pic- 
ardy, and gained a complete victory over the French forces. 
The honor of this brilliant affair, which took place near St. 
Quintin, w^as almost wholly due to the count d'Egmont, a 
Belgian noble, who commanded the light cavalry ; but the 
king, unwilling to let any one man enjoy the glory of the 
day, piously pretended that he owed the entire obligation to 
St. Lawrence, on whose festival the battle was fought. His 
gratitude or hypocrisy found a fitting monument in the cele- 
brated convent and palace of the Escurial, which he absurdly 
caused to be built in the form of a gridiron, the instrument 
of the saint's martyrdom. When the news of the victory 
reached Charles V. in his retreat, the old warrior inquired if 
Philip w^as in Paris 1 but the cautious victor had no notion of 
such prompt manoeuvring ; nor would he risk against foreign 
enemies the exhaustion of forces destined for the enslave- 
ment of his people. 

The French in some measure retrieved their late disgrace 
by the capture of Calais, the only town remaining to England 
of all its French conquests, and which, consequently, had 
deeply interested the national glory of each people. In the 
early part of the year 1558, one of the generals of Henry II. 
made an irruption into Western Flanders ; but the gallant 
count of Egmont once more proved his valor and skill, by 
attacking and totally defeating the invaders near the town 
of Gravelines. 

A general peace was concluded in April, 1559, which bore 
the name of Cateau-Cambresis, from that of the place where 
it was negotiated. Philip secured for himself various advan- 
tages in the treaty ; but he sacrificed the interests of England, 
I'V consenting to the retention of Calais by the French king, 

-a cession deeplv humiliating to the national pride of his 
fi 



82 HISTOKY OF THE NETHESLANDS. 1559. 

allies ; and, if general opinion be correct, a proximate cause 
of his consort's death. The alliance of France and the sup- 
port of Rome, the important results of the two wars now 
brought to a close, were counterbalanced by the well-known 
hostility of Elizabeth, who had succeeded to the throne of 
England ; and this latter consideration was an additional mo- 
tive with Philip to push forward the design of consolidating 
his despotism in the Low Countries. 

To lead his already deceived subjects the more surely into 
tiie snare, he announced his intended departure on a short 
visit to Spain ; and created for the period of his absence a 
provisional government, chiefly composed of the leading men 
among the Belgian nobility. He flattered himself that the 
states, dazzled by the illustrious illusion thus prepared, would 
cheerfully grant to this provisional government the right of 
levying taxes during the temporary absence of the sovereign. 
He also reckoned on the influence of the clergy in the na- 
tional assembly, to procure the revival of the edicts against 
heresy, which he had gained the merit of suspending. These, 
with many minor details of profound duplicity, formed the 
principal features of a plan, which, if successful, would have 
reduced the Netherlands to the wretched state of colonial 
dependence by which Naples and Sicily were held in the 
tenure of Spain. 

As soon as the states had consented to place the whole 
powers of government in the hands of the new administra- 
tion for the period of the king's absence, the royal hypocrite 
believed his scheme secure, and flattered himself he had es- 
tablished an instrument of durable despotism. The compo- 
sition of this new government was a masterpiece of political 
machinery. It consisted of several councils, in which the 
most distinguished citizens were entitled to a place, in suffi- 
cient numbers to deceive the people with a show of repre- 
sentation, but not enough to command a majority, which was 
sure on any important question to rest with the titled crea- 
tures of the court. The edicts against heresy, soon adopted, 
gave to the clergy an almost unlimited power over the lives 
and fortunes of the people. But almost all the dignitaries of 
the church being men of great respectability and moderation, 
chosen by the body of the inferior clergy, these extraordinary 
powers excited little alarm. Philip's project v/as suddenly 
to replace these virtuous ecclesiastics by others of his own 
choice, as soon as the states broke up from their annual meet- 
ing ; and for this intention he had procured the secret con- 
sent and authority of the court of Rome. 

In support of these combinations, the Belgian troops were 



1559. Philip's intr gues for despotic power. 83 

completely broken up and scattered in small bodies over the 
country. The whole of this force, so redoubtable to the 
fears of despotism, consisted of only 3000 cavalry. It was 
now divided into fourteen companies (or squadrons in the 
modern phraseology,) under the command of as many inde- 
pendent chiefs, so as to leave little chance of any principle 
of union reigning among them. But the German and Span- 
ish troops in Philip's pay were cantoned on the frontiers, 
ready to stifle any incipient effort m opposition to his plans. 
Li addition to these imposing means for their execution, he 
had secured a still more secret and more powerful support; 
• — a secret article in the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis obliged 
the king of France to assist him with the whole armies of 
FraPice against his Belgian subjects, should they prove re- 
fractory. Thus the late war, of which the Netherlands had 
borne all the weight, and earned all the glory, only brought 
about the junction of the defeated enemy with their own 
king for the extinction of their national independence. 

To complete the execution of this system of perfidy, Philip 
convened an assembly of all the states at Ghent, in the 
month of July, 1559. This meeting of the representatives 
of the three orders of the state offered no apparent ob- 
stacle to Philip's views. The clergy, alarmed at the pro- 
gress of the new doctrines, gathered more closely round 
the government of which they required the support. The 
nobles had lost much of their ancient attachment to liberty; 
and had become, in various ways, dependent on the royal 
favor. Many of the first families were then represented by 
men possessed rather of courage and candor than of foresight 
and sagacity. That of Nassau, the most distinguished of all, 
seemed the least interested in the national cause. A great 
part of its possessions were in Germany and France, where 
it had recently acquired the sovereign principality of Orange. 
It was only from the third order — that of the commons — that 
Philip had to expect any opposition. Already, during the 
war, it had shown some discontent, and had insisted on the 
nomination of commissioners to control the accounts and the 
disbursements of the subsidies. But it seemed improbable, 
that among this class of men, any would be found capable of 
penetrating the manifold combinations of the king, and dis- 
concerting his designs. 

Anthony Perrenotte de Granvelle, bishop of Arras, who 
v>^as considered as Philip's favorite counsellor, .but who was 
in reality no more than his docile agent, was commissioned to 
address the assembly in the name of his master, who spoke 
only Spanish. His oration was one of cautious deception, 



84 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1559. 

and contained the most flattering- assurances of Philip's at- 
tachment to the people of the Netherlands. It excused the 
king* for not having* nominated his only son Don Carlos to 
reign over them in his name ; alleging, as a proof of his 
royal affection, that he preferred giving them as governant a 
Belgian princess, Madame Marguerite duchess of Parma, 
the natural daughter of Charles V. by a young lady a native 
of Audenarde. Fair promises and fine words v/ere thus lav- 
ished in profusion to gain the confidence of the deputies. 

But notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the 
mystery of Philip and his minister, there was among the no- 
bles one man who saw through all. This individual, endowed 
with many of the highest attributes of political genius, and 
pre-eminently with judgment, the most important of all, en- 
tered fearlessly into the contest against tyranny — despising 
every personal sacrifice for the country's good. Without 
making himself suspiciously prominent, he privately warned 
some members of the states of the coming danger. Those 
in whom he confided did not betray the trust. They spread 
among the other deputies the alarm, and pointed out the 
danger to which they had been so judiciously awakened. The 
consequence was, a reply to Philip's demand, in vague and 
general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge ; 
and an unanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, 
withdraw the foreign troops, and entrust no official employ- 
ments to any but natives of the country. The object of this 
last request was the removal of Granvelle, who was born in 
Franche-Comte. 

Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment 
of his vexation he imprudently cried out, " Would ye, then, 
also bereave me of my place ; L who am a Spaniard V But 
he soon recovered his self-command, and resumed his usual 
mask ; expressed his regret at not having sooner learned the 
wishes of the state ; promised to remove the foreign troops 
within three months ; and set off for Zealand, with assumed 
composure, but filled with the fury of a discovered traitor 
and a humiliated despot. 

A fleet under the command of count Horn, the admiral of 
the United Provinces, waited at Flessingue to form his escort 
to Spain. At the very moment of his departure, William of 
Nassau, prince of Orange and governor of Zealand, waited 
on him to pay his official respects. The king, taking him 
apart from the other attendant nobles, recommended him to 
hasten the execution of several gentlemen and wealthy citi- 
zens attached to the newly introduced religious opinions. 
Then, quite suddenly, whether in the random impulse of 



1550. INCREASE or COMMERCE. 85 

suppressed rage, or that his piercing glance discovered Wil- 
liam's secret feelings in his countenance, he accused him 
with having been the means of thwarting his designs. " Sire," 
replied Nassau, " it was the work of the national states." — 
" JVo !" cried Philip, grasping him furiously by the arm ; " it was 
not done by the states, but by you, and you alone !"* 

This glorious accusation was not repelled. He who had 
saved his country in unmasking the designs of its tyrant, ad- 
mitted by his silence his title to the hatred of the one and the 
gratitude of the other. On the 20th of August, Philip em- 
barked and set sail ; turning his back for ever on the country 
which offered the first check to his despotism ; and, after a 
perilous voyage, he arrived in that which permitted a free 
indulgence to his ferocious and sanguinary career. 

For some time after Philip's departure, the Netherlands 
continued to enjoy considerable prosperity. From the period 
of the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, commerce and navigaticm 
had acquired new and increasing activity. The fisheries, but 
particularly that of herrings, became daily more important ; 
that one alone occupying 2000 boats. While Holland, Zea- 
land, and Friesland made this progress in their peculiar 
branches of industry, the southern j)rovinces were not less 
active or successful. Spain and the colonies offered such a 
mart for the objects of their manufacture, that in a single year 
they received from Flanders fifty large ships, filled with ar- 
ticles of household furniture and utensils. The exportation 
of woollen goods amounted to enormous sums. Bruges alone 
sold aimually to the amount of 4,000,000 florins of stuffs of 
Spanish, and as much of English, wool ; and the least value 
of the florin then was quadruple its present worth. The 
commerce with England though less important than that with 
Spain, was calculated yearly at 24,000,000 florins, which was 
chiefly clear profit to the Netherlands, as their exportations 
consisted almost entirely of objects of their own manufacture. 
Their commercial relations with France, Germany, Italy, 
Portugal, and the LeA^ant, were daily increasing. Antwerp 
was the centre of this prodigious trade. Several sovereigns, 
aniong others Elizabeth of England, had recognized agents 
in that city, equivalent to consuls of the present times ; and 
loans of immense amount were frequently negotiated by 
them with wealthy merchants, who furnished them, not in 
negotiable bills or for unredeemable debentures, but in solid 
gold, and on a simple acknowledgment. 

* Schiller. The words of Philip were : " JVo, vo los eatados ; ma vos, vos, 
jwn!" Vos thus used in Spanish is a term of contempt, equivalent to toi in 
French. 



86 HISTORY OF THE NETIIEELANVS. 1560. 

Flanders and Brabant were still the richest awd most flour- 
ishing- portions of the state. Some municipal fetes given 
about this time afford a notion of their opulence. On one of 
these occasions the town of Mechlin sent a deputation to 
Antwerp, consisting of 326 horsemen dressed in velvet and 
satin with gold and silver ornaments ; while those of Brus- 
sels consisted of 340, as splendidly equipped, and accompanied 
by seven huge triumphal chariots and seventy-eight carriages 
of various constructions, — a prodigious number for those days. 

But the splendor and prosperity which thus sprung out of 
the national industry and independence, and which a wise or 
a generous sovereign would have promoted, or at least have 
established on a permanent basis, v/as destined speedily to 
sink beneath the bigoted fury of Philip II. The new govern- 
ment which he had established was most ingeniously adapted 
to produce every imaginable evil to the state. The king, 
hundreds of leagues distant, could not himself issue an order 
but with a lapse of time ruinous to any object of pressing im- 
portance. The governant-general, who represented him, 
having but a nominal authority, was forced to follow her in- 
structions, and liable to have all her acts reversed ;* besides 
v/hich, she had the king's orders to consult her private coun- 
cil on a]] affairs whatever, and the council of state on any 
matter of paramount importance. These two councils, how- 
ever, contained the elements of a serious opposition to the 
royal projects, in the persons of the patriot nobles sprinkled 
among Philip's devoted creatures. Thus the influence of 
the crown was often thwarted, if not actually balanced ; and 
the proposals which emanated from it frequently opposed by 
the governant herself She, although a woman of masculine 
appearance and habits,f was possessed of no strength of 
mind. Her prevailing sentiment seemed to be dread of the 
king ; yet she was at times influenced by a sense of justice, 
and by the remonstrances of the v/ell-judging men^bers of her 
councils. But these were not all the difflculties that clogged 
the machinery of the state. After the king, the government, 
and the councils, iiad deliberated on any measure, its execu- 
tion rested with the provincial governors or stadtholders, or 
the magistrates of the towns. Almost every one of these, 
being strongly attached to the laws and customs of the nation, 
hesitated, or refused to obey the orders conveyed to them, 
when those orders appeared illegal. Some, however, yielded 
to the authority of the government ; so it often happened that 
an edict, which in one district was carried into full effect, 

* Vandervynct. f Strada. 



1561. INEFFICIENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 87 

was in others deferred, rejected, or violated, in a way pro- 
ductive of great conftision in the pubhc affairs. 

Philip was conscious that he had himself to blame for the 
consequent disorder. In nominatmg the members of the two 
councils, he had overreached himself in his plan for silently 
sapping- the liberty that was so obnoxious to his designs. But 
to neutralize the influence of the restive members, he had 
left Granvelle the first place in the administration. This 
man, an immoral ecclesiastic, an eloquent orator, a supple 
courtier, and a profound politician, bloated with pride, envy, 
insolence, and vanity, was the real head of the government.* 
Next to him among the royalist party was Viglius, president 
of the privy-council, an erudite schoolman, attached less to 
the broad principles of justice than to the letter of the laws, 
and thus carrying pedantry into the very councils of the 
state. Next in order came the count de Berlaimont, head of 
the financial department, — a stern and intolerant satellite of 
the court, and a furious enemy to those national institutions 
which operated as checks upon fraud. These three individu- 
als formed the governant's privy-council. The remaining 
creatures of the king were mere subaltern agents. 

A government so composed could scarcely fail to excite 
discontent, and create danger to the public wea,l. The first 
proof of incapacity was elicited by the measures required for 
the departure of the Spanish troops. The period fixed by the 
kmg had already expired, and these obnoxious foreigners 
were still in the country, living in part on pillage, and each 
day committing some new excess. Complaints were carried 
in successive gradation from the government to the council, 
and from the council to the king. The Spaniards were re- 
moved to Zealand ; but instead of being embarked at any of 
its ports, they were detained there on various pretexts. 
Money, ships, or, on necessity, a wind, was professed to be 
still wanting for their final removal, by those who found ex- 
cuses for delay in every element of nature or subtei'fuge of 
art. In the mean time those ferocious soldiers ravaged a 
part of the country. The simple natives at length declared 
they would open the sluices of their dikes ; preferring to be 
swallowed by the waters rather than remain exposed to the 
cruelty and rapacity of those Spaniards.f Still the embarka- 
tion was postponed ; until the king, requirmg his troops in 

* Strada, a royalist, a Jesuit, and therefore a fair witness on this point, 
uses the following words in portraying the character of this odious minis- 
ter. Animum avidum invidumque, ac simultates inter princip em etpopulos 
occulti fovenUim. 

t Watson's Life of Philip II. 



88 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1561, 

Spain for some domestic project, they took their long-desired 
departure in the beginning of the year 1561. 

The public discontent at this just cause was soon, how- 
ever, overwhelmed by one infinitely more important and 
lasting. The Belgian clergy had hitherto formed a free and 
powerful order in the state, governed and represented by 
four bishops, chosen by the chapters of the towns, or elected 
by the monks of the principal abbeys. These bishops, pos- 
sessing an independent territorial revenue, and not directly 
subject to the influence of the crown, had interests and feel- 
ings in common with the nation. But Philip had prepared, 
and the pope had sanctioned, the new system of ecclesiastical 
organization before alluded to, and the provisional govern- 
ment now put it into execution.* Instead of four bishops, it 
was intended to appoint eighteen, their nomination being 
vested in the king. By a wily system of trickery, the sub- 
serviency of the abbeys was also aimed at. The new pre- 
lates, on a pretended principle of economy, were endowed 
with the title of abbots of the chief monasteries of their 
respective dioceses. Thus not only would they enjoy the 
immense wealth of these establishments, but the political 
rights of the abbots whom they were to succeed ; and the 
whole of the ecclesiastical order become gradually repre- 
sented (after the death of the then living abbots) by the 
creatures of the crown. 

The consequences of this vital blow to the integrity of the 
national institutions were evident; and the indignation of 
both clergy and laity was universal. Every legal means of 
opposition were resorted to, but the people were without 
leaders ; the states were not in session. While the authority 
of the pope and the king combined, the reverence excited by 
the very name of religion, and the address and perseverance 
of the government, formed too powerful a combination, and 
triumphed over the national discontents wiiich had not yet 
been formed into resistance. The new bishops were appoint- 
ed ; Granvelle securing for himself the archiepiscopal see of 
Mechlin, with the title of primate of the Low Countries. Al 
the same time Paul IV. put the crowning point to the capital 
of his ambition, by presenting him with a cardinal's hat. 

The new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, 
and it may be conscientious, opponents to the wide-spreading 
doctrines of reform. The execution of tlie edicts against 
heresy was confided to them. The provincial governors and 
inferior magistrates were commanded to aid them with a 

* Vandervynct. 



1501. THE KEFORMATION. 89 

strong' arm ; and the most unjust and frig-htful persecution 
immediately commenced. But still some of these govern- 
ors and magistrates, considering themselves not only the 
officers of the prince, but the protectors of the people, 
and the defenders of the laws rather than of the faith, did 
not blindly conform to -those harsh and illegal commands. 
The prince of Orange, stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and 
Utrecht, and the count of Egmont, governor of Flanders and 
Artois, permitted no persecutions in those five provinces. 
But in various places the very people, even when influenced 
by their superiors, openly opposed it. Catholics as well as 
Protestants vv^ere indignant at the atrocious spectacles of 
cruelty presented on all sides. The public peace was endan- 
gered by isolated acts of resistance, and fears of a general in- 
surrection soon became universal. 

The apparent temporizing or seeming uncertainty of the 
champions of the new doctrines formed the great obstacle to 
the reformation, and tended to prolong the dreadful struggle 
which was now only commencing in the Low Countries. It 
was a matter of great difficulty to convince the people that 
popery was absurd, and at the same time to set limits to the 
absurdity. Had the change been from blind belief to total 
infidelity, it would (as in a modern instance) have been much 
easier, though less lasting. Men might, in a time of such 
excitement, have been persuaded that all religion productive 
of abuses such as then abounded w^as a farce, and that com- 
mon sense called for its abolition. Bat when the boundaries 
of belief became a question; when the world was told it 
ought to reject some doctrines, and retain others which seemed 
as difficult of comprehension ; when one tenet was pronounced 
idolatry, and to doubt another declared damnation ; — the 
world either exploded or recoiled : it went too far, or it shrank 
back ; plunged into atheism, or relapsed into popery. It was 
thus the reformation was checked in the first instance. Its 
supporters were the strong-minded and intelligent ; and they 
never, and least of all in those days, formed the mass. Su- 
perstition and bigotry had enervated the intellects of the ma- 
jority ; and the high resolve of those with whom the great 
work commenced, was mixed with a severity that materially 
retarded its progress. For though personal interests, as with 
Henry VIII. of England, and rigid enthusiasm, as with Cal- 
vin, strengthened the infant reformation ; the first led to vio- 
lence wliich irritated many, the second to austerity which dis- 
gusted them ; and it was soon discovered that the change v/as 
almost confined to forms of practice, and that the essentials 
of abuse were likely to be carefully pres:?rvcd. All these, 



90 HISTORY OF THE NETIIEKLANDS. 1661. 

and other arguments, artfully modified to distract the people, 
were urged by the new bishops m the Netherlands, and by 
•those whom they employed to arrest the progress of reform. 

Among- the various causes of the general confusion, the 
situation of Brabant gave to that province a peculiar share of 
suffering. Brussels, its capital, being the seat of government, 
had no particular chief magistrate, like the other provinces. 
The executive power was therefore wholly confided to the 
municipal authorities and the territorial proprietors. But 
these, though generally patriotic in their views, were divided 
into a multiplicity of diflorent opinions. Rivalry and resent- 
ment produced a total want of union, ended in anarchy, and 
prepared the way for civil war. William of Nassau pene- 
trated the cause, and proposed the remedy in moving for the 
appointment of a provincial governor. This proposition terri- 
fied Granvelle, who saw, as clearly as did his sagacious oppo- 
nent in the council, that the nomination of a special protector 
between the people and the government would have para- 
lyzed all his efforts for hurrying on the discord and resistance 
which were meant to be the plausible excuses for the intro- 
duction of arbitrary power. He therefore energetically dis- 
sented from the proposed measure, and William immediately 
desisted from his demand. But he at the same time claimed, 
in the name of the whole country, the convocation of the 
states-general. This assembly alone was competent to de- 
cide what was just, legal, and obligatory for each province 
and every town. Governors, magistrates, and simple citi- 
zens, would thus have some rule for their common conduct ; 
and the government v/ould be at least endowed with the dig- 
nity of uniformity and steadiness. The ministers endeavored 
to evade a demand which they were at first unwilling openly 
to refuse. But the firm demeanor a.nd persuasive eloquence 
of the prince of Orange carried before them all who were not 
actually bought by the crown ; and Granvelle found himself 
at length forced to avow that an express order from the king 
forbade the convocation of the states, on any pretext, during 
his absence. 

The veil was thus rent asunder, which had in some mea- 
sure concealed the deformity of Philip's despotism. The re- 
sult was a powerful confederacy among all who held it odious, 
for the overthrow of Granvelle, to whom they chose to at- 
tribute the king's conduct ; thus bringing into practical result 
the sound principle of ministerial responsibility, without 
which, except in som.e peculiar case of local urgency or po- 
litical crisis, the name of constitutional government is but a 
mockery. Many of the royalist nobles united for the national 



1561. THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 91 

cause ; and even the governant joined her efforts to theirs, 
for an object which would relieve her from the tyranny which 
none felt more than she did. Those who composed this con- 
federacy ag-ainst the minister were actuated by a great va- 
riety of motives. The duchess of Parma hated him, as a 
domestic spy robbing her of all real authority ; the royalist 
nobles, as an insolent upstart at every instant mortifying their 
pride. The counts Egmont and Horn, with nobler senti- 
ments, opposed hun as the author of their country's growing 
misfortunes. But it is doubtful if any of the confederates ex- 
cept the prmce of Orange clearly saw that they were putting 
themselves in direct and personal opposition to the king hhn- 
self William alone, clear-sighted in politics and profound in 
his views, knew, in thus devoting himself to the public cause, 
the adversary with whom he entered the lists. 

This great man, for whom the national traditions still pre- 
serve the sacred title of " father" ( Vader- Willem,) and who 
was in truth not merely the parent but the political creator of 
the country, was at this period m his thirtieth year. He 
already jomed the vigor of manhood to the wisdom of age. 
Brought up under the eye of Charles V., whose sagacity soon 
discovered his precocious talents, he was admitted to the 
councils of the emperor, at a time of life which was little ad- 
vanced beyond mere boyhood. He alone was chosen by this 
powerful sovereign to be present at the audiences which he 
gave to foreign ambassadors, which proves that in early youth 
he well deserved by his discretion the surname of " the taci- 
turn." It was on the arm of William, then twenty years of 
age, and already named by him to the command of the Bel- 
gian troops, that this powerful monarch leaned for support on 
the memorable day of his abdication ; and he immediately after- 
v/ards employed him on the important mission of bearing the 
imperial -crown to his brother Ferdinand, in whose favor he 
had resigned it. William's grateful attachm.ent to Charles 
did not blind him to the demerits of Philip. He repaired to 
France, as one of the hostages on the part of the latter mon- 
arch for the fulfilment of the peace of Cateau-Cambresis ; and 
lie then learned from the lips of Henry II., who soon con- 
ceived a high esteem for him, the measures reciprocally 
greed on by the two sovereigns for the oppression of their 
ubjects.* From that moment his mind was made up on the 
character of Philip, and on the part which he had himself to 
perform ; and he never felt a doubt on the first point, nor 
sv/erved from the latter. 

* Vandervynct. 



92 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1561. 

But even before his patriotism was openly displayed, Philip 
had taken a dislil^e to one in whom his shrewdness quickly 
discovered an intellect of which he was jealous. He could 
not actually remove William from all interference with pub- 
lic affairs ; but he refused him the government of Flanders, 
and opposed, in secret, his projected marriage with a princess 
of the house of Lorraine, which was calculated to bring him 
a considerable accession of fortune, and consequently of in- 
fluence. It may be therefore said that William, in his sub- 
sequent conduct, was urged by motives of personal enmity 
against Philip, Be it so. We do not seek to raise him above 
the common feelings of humanity ; and we should risk the 
sinking him below them, if we supposed him insensible to 
the natural effects of just resentment. 

The secret impulses of conduct can never be known be- 
yond the individual's own breast ; but actions must, however 
questionable, be taken as the tests of motives. In all those 
of William's illustrious career we can detect none that might 
be supposed to spring from vulgar or base feelings. If his 
hostility to Philip was indeed increased by private dislike, he 
has at least set an example of unparalleled dignity in his 
method of revenge ; but in calmly considering and weighing, 
without deciding on the question, we see nothing that should 
deprive William of an unsullied title to pure and perfect 
patriotism. The injuries done to him by Philip at this period 
were not of a nature to excite any violent hatred. Enough 
of public wrong was inflicted to arouse the patriot, but not 
of private ill to inflame the man. Neither was William of a 
vindictive disposition. He was never known to turn the 
knife of an assassin against his royal rival, even when the 
blade hired by the latter glanced from him reeking with his 
blood. And though William's enmity may have been kept 
alive or strengthened by the provocations he received, it is 
certain that, if a foe to the king, he was, as long as it was 
possible, the faithful counsellor of the crown. He spared no 
pains to impress on the monarch who hated him the real 
means for preventing the coming evils ; and had not a revo- 
lution been absolutely inevitable, it is he who would have 
prevented it. 

Such was the chief of the patriot party, chosen by the 
silent election of general opinion, and by that involuntary 
homage to genius, which leads individuals in the train of 
those master-minds who take the lead in public affairs. 
Counts Egmont and Horn, and some others, largely shared 
with him the popular favor. The multitude could not for 
some time distinguish the uncertain and capricious opposition 



1564. GRANVELLE RECALLED. 93 

of an offended courtier from the determined resistence of a 
great man. William was still comparatively young- ; he had 
lived long out of the country ; and it was little by little that 
his eminent public virtues were developed and understood. 

The great object of immediate good was the removal of 
cardinal Granvelle. William boldly put himself at the head 
of the confederacy. He wrote to the kmg, eonjointly with 
counts Egmont and Horn, faithfully portraying the state of 
affairs. The duchess of Parma backed this remonstrance 
with a strenuous request for Granvelle's dismission. Philip's 
reply to the three noblemen was a mere tissue of duplicity to 
obtain delay, accompanied by an invitation to count Egmont 
to repair to Madrid, to hear his sentiments at large by word of 
mouth. His only answer to the governant was a positive re- 
commendation to use every possible means to disunite and 
breed ill-will among the three confederate lords. It was diffi- 
cult to deprive William of the confidence of his friends, and 
impossible to deceive him. He saw the trap prepared by the 
royal intrigues, restrained Egmont for a while from the fatal 
step he was but too well inclined to take, and persuaded him 
and Horn to renew with him their firm but respectful repre- 
sentations ; at the same tinie begging permission to resign 
their various employments, and simultaneously ceasing to 
appear at the court of the governant. 

In the mean time every possible indignity was offered to 
the cardinal by private pique and public satire. Several lords, 
following count Egmont's example, had a kind of capuchon 
or fool's-cap embroidered on the liveries of their varlets ; and 
it was generally known that this was meant as a practical 
parody on the cardinal's hat. The crowd laughed heartily at 
this stupid pleasantry ; and the coarse satire of the times 
may be judged by a caricature, which was forwarded to the 
cardmal's own hands, representing him in the act of hatching 
a nest full of eggs, from which a crowd of bishops escaped, 
while overhead was the devil in propria persona, with the 
following scroll : — " This is my well-beloved son — listen to 
him !"* 

Philip, thus driven before the popular voice, found himself 
forced to the choice of throwing off the mask at once, or of 
sacrificing Granvelle. An invincible inclination for manoeuv- 
ring and deceit decided him on the latter measure ; and the 
cardinal, recalled but not disgraced, quitted the Netherlands 
on the 10th of March, 1564.t The secret instructions to the 
governant remained unrevoked ; the president Viglius suc- 

* niijnnJin, Jfist. Grn. dcs Prov. Vn. t. v. p. Tii. t Vninlorvynft. 



94 HISTORY OF THE NETHEELAKDS. 1565. 

ceeded to the post which Granvelle had occupied ; and it was 
clear that the projects of the king had suffered no change. 

Nevertheless some good resulted from the departure of the 
unpopular minister. The public fermentation subsided ; the 
patriot lords reappeared at court ; and the prince of Orange 
acquired an increasing influence in the council and over the 
governant, who by his advice adopted a conciliatory line of 
conduct — a fallacious but still a temporary hope for the na- 
tion. But the calm was of short duration. Scarcely was 
this moderation evinced by the government, v/hen Philip, ob- 
stinate in his designs, and outrageous in his resentment, sent 
an order to have the edicts against heresy put into most rig- 
orous execution, and to proclaim throughout the seventeen 
provinces the furious decree of the council of Trent. 

The revolting cruelty and illegality of the first edicts were 
already admitted. As to the decrees of this memorable coun- 
cil, they were only adapted for countries in submission to an 
absolute despotism. They were received in the Netherlands 
with general reprobation. Even the new bishops loudly de- 
nounced them as unjust innovations ; and thus Philip found 
zealous opponents in those on whom he had reckoned as his 
most servile tools. The governant was not the less urged to 
implicit obedience to the orders of the king by Viglius and 
De Berlaimont, who took upon themselves an almost menac- 
ing tone. The duchess assembled a council of state, and 
asked its advice as to her proceedings. The prince of Orange 
at once boldly proposed disobedience to measures fraught with 
danger to the monarchy and ruin to the nation. The council 
could not resist his appeal to their best feelings. His proposal 
that fresh remonstrances should be addressed to the king, met 
with almost general support. The president Viglius, who 
had spoken in the opening of the council in favor of the king's 
orders, was overwhelmed by William's reasoning, and de- 
manded time to prepare his reply. His " agitation during the 
debate, and his despair of carrying the measures against the 
patriot party, brought on in the night an attack of apoplexy. 

It was resolved to dispatch a special envoy to Spain, to ex- 
plain to Philip the views of the council, and to lay before him 
a plan proposed by the prince of Orange for forming a junc- 
tion between the two councils and that of finance, and form- 
ing_^them into one body. The object of this measure was at 
once to give greater union and power to the provisional gov- 
ernment, to create a central administration in the Nether- 
lands, and to remove from some obscure and avaricious finan- 
ciers the exclusive management of the national resources. 
The count of Egmont, chosen by the council for this impor- 



1566. PHILIP ESTABLISHES THE INaUISITIOW. 95 

tant mission, S3t out for Madrid in the month of February, 
1565. Philip received him with profound hypocrisy ; loaded 
him with the most flattering promises ; sent him back in the 
utmost elation : and when the credulous count returned to 
Brussels, he found that the written orders, of which he was 
the bearer, were in direct variance with every word which 
the king- had uttered.* 

These orders were chiefly concerning the reiterated sub- 
ject of the persecution to be inflexibly pursued against the 
religious reformers. Not satisfied with the hitherto estab- 
lished forms of punishment, Philip now expressly commanded 
that the more revolting means decreed by his father in the 
rigor of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, and the 
like, should be adopted; and he somewhat more obscurely 
directed that the victims should be no longer publicly immo- 
lated, but secretly destroyed. He endeavored, by this vague 
phraseology, to avoid the actual utterance of the word in- 
qiiisition; but he thus virtually established that atrocious 
tribunal, with attributes still more terrific than even in Spain ; 
for there the condemned had at least the consolation of dying 
in open day, and of displaying the fortitude which is rarely 
proof against the horror of a private execution. Philip had 
thus consummated his treason against the principles of jus- 
tice and the practices of jurisprudence, which had heretofore 
characterized the country; and against the most vital of 
those privileges which he had solemnly svv^orn to maintain. 

His design of establishing this horrible tribunal, so impi- 
ously named holy by its founders, had been long suspected 
by the people of the Netherlands. The expression of those 
fears had reached him more than once. He as often replied 
by assurances that he had formed no such project, and par- 
ticularly to count d'Egmont during his recent visit to Madrid. 
But at that very time he assembled a conclave of his crea- 
tures, doctors of theology, of whom he formally demanded an 
opinion as to whether he could conscientiously tolerate two 
sorts of religion in the Netherlands. The doctors, hoping to 
please him, replied, that "he might, for the avoidance of a 
greater evil." Philip trembled with rage, and exclaimed, 
with a threatening tone, " I ask not if I can, but if I ought.'''* 
The theologians read in this question the nature of the ex- 
pected reply ; and it was amply conformable to his wish. He 
immediately threw himself on his knees before a crucifix, 
and raismg his hands towards lieaven, put up a prayer for 
strength in his resolution to pursue as deadly enemies all who 

* Vandervynct. 



96 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 

viewed that effigy with feelings different from his own. If 
this were not really a sacrilegious farce, it must be that the 
blaspheming bigot believed the Deity to be a monster of cru- 
elty like himself 

Even Viglius was terrified by the nature of Philip's com- 
mands ; and the patriot lords once more withdrew from all 
share in the government, leaving to the duchess of Parma 
and her ministers the whole responsibility of the new mea- 
sures. They were at length put into actual and vigorous exe- 
cution in the beginning of the year 1566. The inquisitors 
of the faith, with their familiars, stalked abroad boldly in the 
devoted provinces, carrying persecution and death in their 
train. Numerous but partial insurrections opposed these 
odious intruders. Every district and town became the scene 
of frightful executions or tumultuous resistance. The con- 
verts to the new doctrines multiplied, as usual, under the 
effects of persecution. " There v/as nowhere to be seen," 
says a contemporary author, "the meanest mechanic who did 
not find a weapon to strike down the murderers of his com- 
patriots." Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, alone escaped from 
those fast accumulating horrors. William of Nassau was 
there. 



CHAP. VIII. 
1566. 

COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 

The governant and her ministers now began to tremble. 
Philip's favorite counsellors advised him to yield to the popu- 
lar despair ; but nothing could change his determination to 
pursue his bloody game to the last chance. He had foreseen 
the impossibility of reducing the country to slavery as long 
as it maintained its tranquillity, and that union which forms 
in itself the elements and the cement of strength. It was 
from deep calculation that he had excited the troubles, and 
now kept them alive. He knew that the structure of illegal 
power could only be raised on the ruins of public rights and 
national happiness; and the materials of desolation found 
sympathy in his congenial mind. 

And now in reality began the awful revolution of the 
Netherlands against their tyrant. In a few years this so 
lately flourishing and happy nation presented a fi-ightflil pic- 



] 



1566. C0]>13IE]\C;EilE]VT OF THE KEVOLUTION. 97 

ture ; and iii the midst of European peace, prosperity, and 
civilization, the wickedness of one prince drew down on the 
country he misgoverned more evils than it had suffered for 
centuries from the worst effects of its foreign foes. 

William of Nassau has been accused of having at length 
urged on the governant to promulgate the final edicts and 
the resolutions of the council of Trent, and then retiring- from 
the council of state. This line of conduct may be safely 
admitted and fairly defended by his admirers. He had seen 
the uselessness of remonstrance against the intentions of the 
king. Every possible means had been tried, without effect, 
to soften his pitiless heart to the sufferings of the country. 
At length the moment came when the people had reached 
that pitch of despair which is the great force of the oppressed, 
and William felt that their strength was now equal to the 
contest he had long foreseen. It is therefore absurd to accuse 
him of artifice in the exercise of that wisdom which rarely 
failed him on any important crisis. A change of circumstan- 
ces gives a new name to actions and motives ; and it would 
be hard to blame William of Nassau for the only point in 
which he bore the least resemblance to Philip of Spain, — 
that depth of penetration, which the latter turned to every 
base, and the former to every noble purpose. 

Up to the present moment the prince of Orange and the 
counts Egmont and Horn, with their partisans and friends, 
had sincerely desired the public peace, and acted in the com- 
mon interest of the king and the people. But all the nobles 
had not acted with the same constitutional moderation. Many 
of those, disappointed on personal accounts, others professing 
the new doctrines, and the rest variously affected by manifold 
motives, formed a body of violent and sometimes of impru- 
dent malcontents. The marriage of i\-lexander prince of 
Parma, son of the governant, which was at this tune cele- 
brated at Brussels, brought together an immense number of 
these dissatisfied nobles, who became thus drawn into closer 
connexion, and whose national candor was more than usually 
brought out in the confidential intercourse of society. Politics 
and patriotism were the common subjects of conversation in 
the various convivial meetings that took place. Two German 
nobles, counts Hoile and Schwarzemberg, at that period in 
the Netherlands, loudly proclaim.ed the favorable disposition 
of the princes of the empire towards the Belgians.* It was 
supposed even thus early that negotiations had been opened 
with several of those sovereigns. In short, nothing seemed 



Schiller. 



98 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 156b. 

wanting- but a leader, to give consistency and weight to the 
confederacy which was as yet hut in embryo. This was 
doubly furnished in the persons of Louis of Nassau and 
Henry de Brederode. The former, brother of the prince of 
Orange, was possessed of many of those brilliant qualities 
which mark men as worthy of distinction in times of peril. 
Educated at Geneva, he was passionately attached to the re- 
formed religion, and identified in his hatred the Catholic 
church and the tyranny of Spain. Brave and impetuous, he 
was, to his elder brother, but as an adventurous partisan 
compared with a sagacious general. He loved William as 
well as he did their common cause, and his life was devoted 
to both. 

Henry de Brederode, lord of Vianen and marquis of Utrecht, 
was descended from the ancient counts of Holland. This 
illustrious origin, which in his own eyes formed a high claim 
to distinction, had not procured him any of those employ- 
ments or dignities which he considered his due. He was 
presumptuous and rash, and rather a fluent speaker than an 
eloquent orator. Louis of Nassau was thoroughly inspired 
by the justice of the cause he espoused ; De Brederode es- 
poused it for the glory of becoming its champion. The first 
only wished for action ; the latter longed for distinction. But 
neither the enthusiasm of Nassau,, nor the vanity of De Bre- 
derode, was allied with those superior attributes required to 
form a hero. 

The confederation acquired its perfect organization in the 
month of February, 1566, on the 10th of which month its 
celebrated manifesto was signed by its numerous adherents. 
The first name affixed to this document was that of Philip 
de Marnix, lord of St. Aldegondc, from whose pen it eman- 
ated; a man of great talents both as soldier and writer. 
Numbers of the nobility followed him on this muster-roll of 
patriotism, and many of the most zealous royalists were 
among them. This remarkable proclamation of general 
feeling consisted chiefly in a powerfiil reprehension of the 
illegal establishment of the inquisition in the Low Countries, 
•and a solemn obligation on the members of the confederacy 
to unite in the common cause against this detested nuisance. 
Men of all ranks and classes offered their signatures, and 
several Catholic priests among the rest. The prince of 
Orange, and the counts Egmont, Horn, and Meghem, de- 
clined becoming actual parties to this bold measure ; and 
when the question was debated as to the most appropriate 
way of presenting an address to the governant, these noble- 



1566. MEASUEES OF THE CONFEDESATES. 99 

men advised the mildest and most respectful demeanor on the 
part of the purposed deputation. 

At the first intelligence of these proceeding's, the duchess 
of Parma, absorbed by terror, had no resource but to assem- 
ble hastily such members of the council of state as were at 
Brussels; and she entreated, by the most pressing letters, 
the prince of Orange and count Horn to resume their place 
at this council. But three courses of conduct seemed applica 
ble to the em.ergency ; — to take up arms — to grant the demands 
of the confederates — or to temporize and to amuse them with 
a feint of moderation, until the orders of the king might be 
obtained from Spain. It was not, however, till after a lapse 
of four months that the council finally met to deliberate on 
these important questions ; and during this long interval at 
such a crisis, the confederates gained constant accessions to 
their numbers, and completely consolidated their plans. The 
opinions in the council were greatly divided as to the mode 
of treatment towards those, whom one party considered as 
patriots acting in their constitutional rights, and the other as 
rebels in open revolt against the king,* The prince of Orange 
and De Berlaimont were the principal leaders and chief 
speakers on either side. But the reasonings of the former, 
backed by the urgency of events, carried the majority of the 
suffrages ; and a promised redress of grievances was agreed 
on beforehand, as the anticipated answer to the coming 
demands. 

Even while the council of state held its sittings, the report 
was spread through Brussels that the confederates were ap- 
proaching. And at length they did enter the city, to the 
amount of some hundreds of the representatives of the first 
families in the country. On the following day, the 5th of 
April, 1566, they walked in solemn procession to the palace. 
Their demeanor was highly imposing, from their mingled air 
of forbearance and determination. All Brussels thronged out, 
to gaze and sympathize with this extraordinary spectacle, of 
men whose resolute step showed they were no common sup- 
pliants, but whose modest bearing had none of the seditious 
air of faction. The governant received the distinguished 
petitioners with courtesy, listened to their detail of griev- 
ances, and returned a moderate, conciliatory, but evasive 
answer. 

The confederation, which owed its birth to, and was cradled 
in social enjoyments, was consolidated in the midst of a feast. 
The day follov.'ing this first deputation to the governant, De 

* Vandcivyncl. 



iOO HISTORY OF THE NETllEKLANDS. 166'. 

Brederode gave a grand repast to his associates in the hotel 
de Culembourg. Three hundred guests were present. In- 
flamed by joy and hope, their spirits rose high under the 
influence of wine, and temperance gave way to temerity. In 
the midst of their carousing, some of the members remarked, 
that when the governant received the written petition, count 
Berlaimont observed to her, that " she had nothing to fear 
from such a band of beggars," {tas de Gueux.) The fact was, 
that many of the confederates were, from individual extrava- 
gance and mismanagement, reduced to such a state of poverty 
as to justify in some sort the sarcasm. The chiefs of the 
company being at that very moment debating on the name 
which they should choose for tliis patriotic league, the title of 
Gueux was instantly proposed, and adopted with acclamation. 
The reproach it was originally intended to convey became 
neutralized, as its general application to men of all ranks 
and fortunes concealed its effect as a stigma on many to 
whom it might be seriously applied. Neither were examples 
wanting of the most absurd and apparently dishonoring nick- 
names being elsewhere adopted by powerful political parties. 
" Long live the Gueux !" was the toast given and tumultu- 
ously drunk by this madbrained company; and Brederode, 
setting no bounds to the boisterous excitement which followed, 
procured immediately, and slung across his shoulders, a 
wallet such as was worn by pilgrims and beggars ; drank to 
the health of all present, in a wooden cup or porringer ; and 
loudly swore that he was ready to sacrifice his fortune and 
life for the common cause. Each man passed round the bowl, 
which he first put to his lips — repeated the oath — and thus 
pledged himself to the compact. The wallet next went the 
rounds of the whole assembly, and was finally hung upon a 
nail driven into the wall for the purpose ; and gazed on with 
such enthusiasm as the emblems of political or religious faith, 
however worthless or absurd, never fail to inspire in the 
minds of enthusiasts. 

The tumult caused by this ceremony, so ridiculous in itself, 
but so sublime in its results, attracted to the spot the prince 
of Orange and counts Egmont and Horn, whose presence is 
universally attributed by the historians to accident, but which 
was probably that kind of chance that leads medical practi- 
tioners in our days to the field where a duel is fought. They 
entered ; and Brederode, who did the honours of the mansion, 
forced them to be seated, and to join in the festivity.* The 

* TJie following was Egmont's account of their conduct. " We drank a 
single glass of wine each, to shouts of ' Long live the king! long live the 
Gueux!' It was the first lime I had heard the confederacy so named, and I 



156B. K\XUUET OF THP] CONrEDERATES. 1(31 

appearance of three such distmguished personages Iieight- 
ened the general excitement ; and the most important assem- 
blage that had for centuries met together in the Net'herlands 
mingled the discussion of affairs of state with all the burlesque 
extravag'ance of a debauch. But this frantic scene did not 
finish the affair. What they resolved on while drunk, they 
prepared to perform when sober. Rallying-signs and watch- 
words were adopted and soon displayed. It was thought that 
nothing better suited the occasion than the immediate adop- 
tion of the costume as well as the title of beggary. In a very 
few days the city streets were filled with men in gray cloaks, 
fashioned on the model of those used by mendicants and pil- 
grims. Each confederate caused this uniform to be worn by 
every member of his family, and replaced with it the livery 
of his servants. Several fastened to their girdles or their 
sword-hilts small wooden drinking-cups, clasp-knives, and 
other symbols of the begging fraternity ; while all soon wore 
on their breasts a medal of gold or silver, representing on 
one side the effigy of Philip, with the words, " Faithful to 
the king ; and on the reverse, two hands clasped, with the 
motto, " Jusqu^ a la besace,^^ (Even to the wallet) From 
this origin arose the application of the word Gtteux, in its 
political sense, as common to all the inhabitants of the Neth- 
erlands who embraced the cause of the Reformation, and 
took up arms against their tyrant. Having' presented two 
subsequent remonstrances to the governant, and obtained 
some consoling promises of moderation, the chief confederates 
quitted Brussels, leaving several directors to sustain their 
cause in the capital ; while they themselves spread into the 
various provinces, exciting the people to join the legal and 
constitutional resistance with which they were resolved to 
oppose the march of bigotry and despotism. 

A new form of edict was now decided on by the governant 
and her council ; and after various insidious and illegal but 
successful tricks, the consent of several of the provinces was 
obtained to the adoption of measures that, under a guise of 
comparative moderation, were little less abominable than 
those commanded by the king.* These were formally signed 
by the council, and dispatched to Spain to receive Philip's 
sanction, and thus acquire the force of law. The embassy to 
Madrid was confided to the marquis of Bergen and the baron 

avow that it displeased me ; but the times were so critical, that people 
were obliged to tolerate many things contrary to their inclinations, and I 
believed myself on this occasion to act with perfect innocence."— Procea 
criminal dn Comte d'Effmont. 
* SfhJUor, 



102 HISTORY OF THE IVETHEKLANDS. 1 56G. 

de Montigny ; the latter of whom was brother to count Horn, 
aiid had formerly been employed on a like mission. Montig-ny 
appears to have had some qualms of apprehension in under- 
taking this new office. His good genius seemed for a while 
to stand between him and the fate which awaited him. An 
accident which happened to his colleague allowed an excuse 
for retarding his journey. But the governant urged him 
away : he set out, and reached his destination ; not to defend 
the cause of his country at the foot of the throne, but to perish 
a victim to his patriotism.* 

The situation of the patriot lords was at this crisis pecu- 
liarly embarrassing. The conduct of the confederates v/as 
so essentially tantamount to open rebellion, that the prince 
of Orange and his friends found it almost impossible to pre- 
serve a neutrality between the court and the people. All 
their wishes urged them to join at once in the public cause ; 
but they were restrained by a lingering sense of loyalty to 
the king, whose employments they still held, and whose con- 
fidence they were, therefore, nominally supposed to share. 
They seemed reduced to the necessity of coming to an ex- 
planation, and, perhaps, a premature rupture with the gov- 
ernment ; of joining in the harsh measures it was likely to 
adopt against those with w^hose proceedings they sympathiz- 
ed ; or, as a last alternative, to withdraw, as they had done 
before, wholly from all interference in public affairs. Still 
their presence in the council of state was, even though their 
influence had greatly decreased, of vast service to the pa- 
triots, in checking the hostility of the court ; and the con- 
federates, on the other hand, were restrained from acts of 
open violence, by fear of the disapprobation of these their 
best and most powerful friends. Be their individual motives 
or reasoning what they might, they at length adopted the 
alternative above alluded to, and resigned their places. Count 
Horn retired to his estates ; count Egmont repaired to Aix- 
la-Chapelle, under the pretext of being ordered thither by 
his physicians ; the prince of Orange remained for a while at 
Brussels. 

In the meanwhile, the confederation gained ground every 
day. Its measures had totally changed the face of affairs in 
all parts of the nation. The general discontent now acquired 
stability, and consequent importance. The chief merchants 
of many of the towns enrolled themselves in the patriot band. 
Many active and ardent minds, hitherto withheld by the 
doubtful construction of the association, now freely entered 

* Schiller. 



i5G(5. PKOGRES3 OF THE EEFOI?MATION. 103 

into it v/hen it took the form of union and respectability. 
Energ-y, if not excess, seemed legitimatized. The vanity of 
the leaders was flattered by the consequence they acquired ; 
and weak minds gladly embraced an occasion of mixing with 
those whose importance gave both protection and conceal- 
ment to their insignificance. 

An occasion so favorable for the rapid promulgation of the 
new doctrines v/as promptly taken advantage of by the 
French Huguenots and their Protestant brethren of Ger- 
many.* The disciples of reform poured from all quarters 
into the Low Countries, and made prodigious progress, vnth 
all the energy of proselytes, and too often with the fury of 
fanatics. The three prmcipal sects into which the reformers 
were divided, were those of the Anabaptists, the Calvinists, 
and the Lutherans. Tlie first and least numerous were 
chiefly established in Friesland. The second were spread 
over the eastern provinces. Their doctrines being already 
admitted into some kingdoms of the north, they were pro- 
-tected by the most powerful princes of the empire. The 
third, and by far the most numerous and wealthy, abounded 
in the southern provinces, and particularly in Flanders, They 
were supported by the zealous efforts of French, Sv/iss, and 
German ministers ; and their dogmas were nearly the same 
with those of tlie established religion of England. The city 
of Antwerp was the central point of union for the three 
sects; but the only principle they held in common was their 
hatred against popery, the inquisition, and Spain. 

The governant had now issued orders to the chief ma- 
gistrates to proceed with moderation against the heretics; 
orders which w^ere obeyed in their most ample latitude by 
those to whose sympathies they were so congenial. Until 
then, the Protestants were satisfied to meet by stealth at 
night ; but under this negative protection of the authorities 
they now boldly assembled in public. Field-preachings com- 
menced in Flanders ; and the minister who first set this ex- 
ample was Herman Strieker, a converted monk, a native of 
Overyss'el, a powerful speaker, and a bold enthusiast. He 
soon drew together an audience of 7000 persons. A furious 
magistrate rushed among this crowd, and hoped to disperse 
them sword in hand ; but he was soon struck down, mortally 
wounded, w^ith a shower of stones.f Irritated and emboldened 
by this rash attempt, the Protestants assembled in still greater 
numbers near Alost ; but on this occasion they appeared with 
poniards, guns, and halberds. They intrenched themselves 

* Schiller. | Vandervynct. 



J 01 HISTOKV Ol' TIIK ]N'E'n£EULA^J)S. J -ICfi 

i.inuer the protection of wagons and all sorts of obstacles to 
a sudden attack ; placed outposts and videttes ; and thus took 
the field in the doubly dangerous aspect of fanaticism and 
war. Similar assemblies soon spread over the whole of Flan- 
ders, inflamed by the exhortations of Strieker and another 
preacher, called Peter Dathen, of Poperingue. It was cal- 
culated that 15,000 men attended at some of these preach- 
ings ; while a third apostle of Calvinism, Ambrose Ville, a 
Frenchman, successfully excited the inhabitants of Tournay, 
Valenciennes, and Antwerp, to form a common league for 
the promulgation of their faith. The sudden appearance of 
De Brederode at the latter place decided their plan, and gave 
the courage to fix on a day for its execution. An immense 
assemblage simultaneously quitted the three cities at a pre- 
concerted time ; and when they united their forces at the ap- 
pointed rendezvous, the preachings, exhortations, and psalm- 
singing commenced, under the auspices of several Huguenot 
and German ministers, &,nd continued for several days in all 
the zealous extravagance which may be well imagined to 
characterize such a scene. 

The citizens of Antwerp were terrified for the safety of 
the place, and courier after courier was dispatched to the 
governant at Brussels to implore her presence. The duch- 
ess, not daring to take such a step without the authority of 
the king, sent count Meghem as her representative, v/ith 
proposals to the magistrates to call out the garrison. The 
populace soon understood the object of this messenger ; and 
assailing him with a violent outcry, forced him to fly from the 
city. Then the Calvinists petitioned the magistrates for per- 
mission to openly exercise their religion, and for the grant of 
a temple in which to celebrate its rites. The magistrates in 
this conjuncture renewed their application to the governant, 
and entreated her to send the prince of Orange, as the only 
person capable of saving the city from destruction. The 
duchess was forced to adopt this bitter alternative ; and the 
prince, after repeated refusals to mix again in public affairs, 
yielded, at length, less to the supplications of the governant 
than to his own wishes to do another service to the cause of 
his country. At half a league from the city he was met by 
De Brederode, with an immense concourse of people of all 
sects and opinions, who hailed him as a protector from the 
tyranny of the king, and a savior from the dangers of their 
own excess. Nothing could exceed the wisdom, the firm- 
ness, and the benevolence, with which he managed all con- 
flicting interests, and preserved tranquillity amidst a chaos of 
opposing prejudices and passions. 



1500. J'lMNCE OF 0«ANGE SAVES AINTWEKF 105 

From the first establishment of the field-preacliings the 
governant had implored the confederate lords to aid her for 
the re-establishment of order. De Brederode seized this ex- 
cuse for convoking a general meeting of the associates, which 
consequently took place at the town of St. Trend, in the dis- 
trict of Liege. Full 2000 of the members appeared on the 
summons. The language held in this assembly was much 
stronger and less equivocal than that formerly used.* The 
delay in the arrival of the king's answer presaged ill as to 
his intentions; while the rapid growth of the public power 
seemed to mark the present as the time for successfully de- 
manding all that the people required. Several of the Catho- 
lic members, still royalists at heart, were shocked to hear a 
total liberty of conscience spoken of as one of the privileges 
sought for.f The young count of Mansfield, among others, 
withdrew immediately from the confederation ; and thus the 
first stone seemed to be removed from this imperfectly con- 
structed edifice. 

The prince of Orange and count Egm^nt were applied to, 
and appointed by the governant, with full powers to treat 
with the confederates. Twelve of the latter, among whom 
were Louis of Nassau, De Brederode, and De Culembourg, 
met them by appointment at DufHe, a village not far from 
Mechlin. The result of the conference was a respectful but 
firm address to the governant, repelling her accusations of 
having entered into foreign treaties ; declaring their readi- 
ness to march against the French troops, should they set foot 
in the country ; and claiming, with the utmost force of rea- 
soning, the convocation of the states-general. This was re- 
plied to by an entreaty that they would still wait patiently 
for twenty-four days, in hopes of an answer from the king ; 
and she sent the marquess of Bergen in all speed to Madrid, 
to support Montigny in his efforts to obtain some prompt de- 
cision from Philip4 The king, who v^^as then at Segovia, 
assembled his council, consisting of the duke of Alva and 
eight other grandees. The two deputies from the Nether- 
lands attended at the deliberations, which were held for sev- 
eral successive days ; but the king was never present. The 
whole state of affairs being debated with what appears a 
calm and dispassionate view, considering the hostile preju- 
dices of this council, it was decided to advise the king to 
adopt generally a more moderate line of conduct in the Neth- 
erlands, and to abolish the inquisition ; at the same time pro- 

* Vandervynct, t Schiller. J Vandervynct. 



106 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLAJSTDS. 15C6. 

hibiting- under the most awful threats all confederation, as- 
semblage, or public preachings, under any pretext whatever.* 

The king's first care on receiving this advice was to order, 
in all the principal towns of Spain and the Netherlands, 
prayer and processions to implore the divine approbation on 
the resolutions which he had formed. He appeared then in 
person at the council of state, and issued a decree, by which 
he refused his consent to the convocation of the states-gen- 
eral, and bound himself to take several German regiments 
into ]iis pay. He ordered the duchess of Parma, by a private 
letter, to immediately cause to be raised 3000 cavalry and 
10,000 foot, and he remitted to her for this purpose 300,000 
florins in gold. He next wrote with his own hand to several 
of his partisans in the various towns, encouraging them in 
their fidelity to his purposes, and promising them his sup- 
port. He rejected the adoption of the moderation recom- 
mended to him; but he consented to the abolition of the in- 
quisition in its most odious sense, re-establishing that modi- 
fied species of ecclesiastical tyranny which had been intro- 
duced into the Netherlands by Charles V. The people of 
that devoted country were thus successful in obtaining one 
important concession from the king, and in meeting unex- 
pected consideration from this Spanish council. Whether 
these measures had been calculated with a view to their fail- 
ure, it is not now easy to determine ; at all events they came 
too late.f When Philip's letters reached Brussels, the ico- 
noclasts or image-breakers v.^ere abroad. | 

It requires no profound research to comprehend the im- 
pulse which leads a horde of fanatics to the most monstrous 
excesses. That the deeds of the iconoclasts arose from the 
spontaneous outburst of mere vulgar fury, admits of no doubt. 
The aspersion which would trace those deeds to the meeting 
of St. Trond, and fix the infamy on the body of nobility there 
assembled, is scarcely worthy of refutation. The very lowest 
of the people were the actors as well as the authors of the 
outrages, which were at once shocking to every friend cf 
liberty, and injurious to that sacred cause. Artois and western 
Flanders were the scenes of the first exploits of the icono- 
clasts. A band of peasants, intermixed with beggars and 
various other vagabonds, to the amount of about 300, § urged 
by fanaticism and those baser passions which animate every 
lawless body of men, armed with hatchets, clubs, and ham- 
mers, forced open the doors of some of the villag-e churches 
in the neighborhood of St. Omer, and tore down and de- 

* Schiller. f Vandervynct. J Schiller. § Vandervynct. 



1566. IMAGE-BREAKERS. 107 

stroyed not only the images and relics of saints, but those 
very ornaments which Christians of all sects hold sacred, and 
essential to the most simple rites of religion. 

The cities of Ypres, Lille, and other places of importance, 
were soon subject to similar visitations ; and the whole of 
Flanders was in a few days ravaged by furious multitudes, 
whose frantic energy spread terror and destruction on their 
route. Antwerp was protected for a while by the presence 
of the prince of Orange ; but an order from the governant 
having obliged him to repair to Brussels, a few nigJits after 
his departure the celebrated cathedral shared the fate of 
many a minor templer and was utterly pillaged. The blind 
fury of the spoilers was not confined to the mere effigies 
which they considered the types of idolatry, nor even to the 
pictures, the vases, the sixty-six altars, and their richly 
wrought accessories ; but it was equally fatal to the splendid 
organ, which was considered the finest at that time in exist- 
ence. The rapidity and the order with which this torchlight 
scene was acted, without a single accident among the nu- 
merous doers, has excited the wonder of almost all its early 
historians. One of them does not hesitate to ascribe the 
"miracle" to the absolute agency of demons.* For three 
days and nights these revolting scenes were acted, and every 
church in the city shared the fate of the cathedral, which 
next to St. Peter's at Rome was the most magnificent in 
Christendom.! 

Ghent, Tournay, Valenciennes, Mechlin, and other cities, 
were next the theatres of similar excesses; and in an in- 
credibly short space of time above 400 churches were pillaged 
in Flanders and Brabant. Zealand, Utrecht, and others of 
the northern provinces, suffered more or less; Friesland, 
Guelders, and Holland alone escaped, and even the latter but 
in partial instances. 

These terrible scenes extinguished every hope of recon- 
ciliation with the king. An inveterate and interminable 
hatred was now established between him and the people ; for 
the whole nation was identified with deeds, which were in 
reality only shared by the most base, and were lothesome to 
all who were enlightened. It was in vain that the patriot 
nobles might hope or strive to exculpate themselves; they 
were sure to be held criminal either in fact or by implication. 
No show of loyalty, no efforts to restore order, no personal 
sacrifice, could save them from the hatred or screen them 
from the vengeance of Philip. 

* Strada. t Schiller. 



lOS HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLA.NDS. 15()b 

The afFriglit of the g-overnant during' the short reign of 
anarchy and terror was without bounds. She strove to make 
her escape from Brussels, and was restrained from so doing 
only by the joint solicitations of Viglius and the various 
knights of the order of the Golden Fleece, consisting of the 
first among the nobles of all parties. But, in fact, a species 
of violence was used to restrain her from this most fatal step ; 
for Viglius gave orders that the gates of the city should be 
shut, and egress refused to any one belonging to the court* 
The somewhat less terrified duchess now named count Mans- 
field governor of the town, reinforced the garrison, ordered 
arras to be distributed to all her adherents, and then called a 
council to deliberate on the measures to be adopted. A com- 
promise with the confederates and the reformers was unani- 
mously agreed to. The prince of Orange and counts Eg- 
mont and Horn were once more appointed to this arduous ar- 
bitration between the court and the people.f Necessity now 
extorted almost every concession which had been so long 
denied to justice and prudence. The confederates were de- 
clared absolved from all responsibility relative to their pro- 
ceedings. The suppression of the inquisition, the abolition 
of the edicts agamst heresy, and a permission for the preach- 
ings, were simultaneously published. 

The confederates, on their side, undertook to remain faith- 
ful to the service of the king, to do their best for the estab- 
lishment of order, and to punish the iconoclasts. A regular 
treaty to this effect was drawn up and executed by the re- 
spective plenipotentiaries, and formally approved by the gov- 
ernant, who affixed her sign-manual to the instrument. She 
only consented to this measure after a long struggle, and 
with tears in her eyes ; and it was with a trembling hand 
that she wrote an account of these transactions to the king.| 

Soon after this the several governors repaired to their re- 
spective provinces, and their efforts for the re-establishment 
of tranquillity were attended with various degrees of success. 
Several of the ringleaders in the late excesses were executed ; 
and this severity was not confined to the partisans of the 
Catholic church. The prince of Orange and count Egmont, 
with others of the patriot lords, set the example of this just 
severity. John Casambrot lord of Becker zeel, Egmont's 
secretary, and a leading member of the confederation, put 
himself at the head of some others of the associated gentle- 

* Schiller, f Vandervynct. f Schiller. 



1566. Philip's vindictiveness. 109 

men, fell upon a refractory band of iconoclasts near Gram- 
mont, in Flanders, and took thirty prisoners, of whom he or- 
dered twenty -eight to be hanged on the spot. 



CHAP. IX. 
1566—1573. 

TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF REaUESENS. 

All the services just related in the common cause of the 
country and the king produced no efiect on the vindictive 
spirit of the latter. Neither the lapse of time, the proofs of 
repentance, nor the fulfilment of their duty, could efface the 
hatred excited by a conscientious opposition to even one de- 
sign of despotism.* 

Philip was ill at Segovia when he received accounts of the 
excesses of the image-breakers, and of the convention con- 
cluded with the heretics.f Dispatches from the governant, 
with private advices from Viglius, Egmont, Mansfield, Meg- 
hem, de Berlaimont, and others, gave him ample information 
as to the real state of things, and they thus strove to palliate 
their having acceded to the convention. The emperor even 
wrote to his royal nephew, imploring him to treat his way- 
ward subjects with moderation, and offered his mediation be- 
tween them. Philip, though severely suffering, gave great 
attention to the details of this correspondence, which he 
minutely examined, and laid before his council of state, with 
notes and observations taken by himself But he took special 
care to send to them only such parts as he chose them to be 
well informed upon ; his natural distrust not suffering him to 
have any confidential communication with men.J 

Again the Spanish council appears to have interfered be- 
tween the people of the Netherlands and the enmity of the 
monarch ; and the offered mediation of the emperor was re- 
commended to his acceptance, to avoid the appearance of a 
forced concession to the popular will. Philip was also strongly 
urged to repair to the scene of the disturbances ; and a main 
question of debate was, whether he should march at the head 
of an army or confide himself to the loyalty and good faith 
of his Belgian subjects. But the indolence or the pride of 
Philip was too strong to admit of his taking so vigorous a 

* Schiller. t Hoiper. I Idem 



110 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 

measure ; and all these consultations ended in two letters to 
the g-overnant. In the first he declared his firm intention to 
visit the Netherlands in person; refused to convoke the 
states-general ; passed in silence the treaties concluded with 
the Protestants and the confederates ; and finished by a de- 
claration that he would throw himself wholly on the fidelity 
of the country. In his second letter, meant for the govern- 
ant alone, he authorized her to assemble the states-general 
if public opinion became too powerful for resistance, but on 
no account to let it transpire that he had under any circum- 
stances g-iven his consent. 

During these deliberations in Spain, the Protestants in the 
Netherlands amply availed themselves of the privileges they 
had gained. Tliey erected numerous wooden churches with 
inc]*edible activity.* Young and old, noble and plebeian, of 
these energetic men, assisted in the manual labors of these 
occupations ; and the women freely applied the produce of 
their ornaments and jewels to forward the pious work.f But 
the furious outrag-es of the iconoclasts had done infinite mis- 
chief to both political and religious freedom : many of the 
Catholics, and particularly the priests, gradually withdrew 
themselves from the confederacy, which thus lost some of its 
most firm supporters. And on the other hand, the severity 
with which some of its members pursued the guilty, offended 
and alarmed the body of the people, who could not distin- 
guish the shades of difference between the love of liberty and 
the practice of licentiousness. 

The governant and her satellites adroitly took advantage 
of this state of things to sow dissension among, the patriots. 
Autograph letters from Philip to the principal lords were dis- 
tributed among them with such artful and mysterious pre- 
cautions, as to throw the rest into perplexity, and give each 
suspicions of the other's fidelity. The report of the imme- 
diate arrival of Philip had also considerable effect over the 
less resolute, or more selfish ; and the confederation was dis- 
solving rapidly under the operations of intrigue, self-interest, 
and fear. Even the count of Egmont was not proof against 
the subtle seductions of the wily monarch, whose severe yet 
flattering letters half frightened and half soothed him into a 
relapse of royalism. But with the prince of Orange Philip 
had no chance of success. It is unquestionable, that be his 
means of acquiring information what they might, he did suc- 
ceed in procuring minute intelligence of all that was going 
on in the king's most secret council. He had from time to 



* Vandervynct. t Schiller 



1566. CONFERENCE AT TERMONDE. Ill 

time procured copies of the governant's dispatches ; but the 
document which threw the most important light upon the 
real intentions of Philip, was a confidential epistle to the 
governant from D'Alava, the Spanish minister at Paris, in 
which he spoke in terms too clear to admit any doubt as to the 
terrible example which the king was resolved to make among 
the patriot lords.* Bergen and Montigny confirmed this by 
the accounts they sent home from Madrid of the alteration 
in the manner with which they were treated by Philip and 
his courtiers ; and tlie prince of Orange was more firmly de- 
cided in his opinions of the coming vengeance of the tyrant. 

William summoned his brother Louis, the counts Egmont, 
Horn, and Hoogstraeten, to a secret conference at Termonde ; 
and he there submitted to them this letter of Alava's, with 
others which he had received from Spain, confirmatory of his 
worst fears. Louis of Nassau voted for open and instant re- 
bellion : William recommended a cautious observance of the 
projects of government, not doubting but a fair pretext would 
be soon given to justify the most vigorous overt acts of re- 
volt : but Egmont at once struck a death-blow to the ener- 
getic project of one brother, and the cautious amendment of 
the other, by declaring his present resolution to devote him- 
self wholly to the service of the king, and on no inducement 
whatever to risk the perils of rebellion. He expressed his 
perfect reliance on the justice and the goodness of Philip, when 
once he should see the determined loyalty of those whom he 
had hitherto had so much reason to suspect; and he exhorted 
the others to follow his example. The two brothers, and 
count Horn implored him in their turn to abandon this blind 
reliance on the tyrant ; but in vain. His new and unlooked- 
for profession of faith completely paralyzed their plans. He 
possessed too largely the confidence of both the soldiery and 
the people, to make it possible to attempt any serious mea- 
sure of resistance in which he would not take a part. The 
meeting broke up without coming to any decision. All those 
who bore a part in it were expected at Brussels to attend the 
council of state ; Egmont alone repaired thither. The gov- 
ernant questioned him on the object of the conference at Ter- 
monde : he only replied by an indignant glance, at the same 
time presenting a copy of Alava's letter. 

The governant now applied her whole eiibrts to destroy 
the union among the patriot lords. She, in the mean time, 
ordered levies of troops to the amount of some thousands, the 
command of which was given to the nobles on whose at- 



112 HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLANUS. 1566. 

tachment she could reckon. The most vigorous measures 
were adopted. Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, appeared 
before Valenciennes, which, being in the power of the Cal- 
vinists, had assumed a most determined attitude of resist- 
ance. He vainly summoned the place to submission, and to 
admit a royalist garrison ; and on receiving an obstinate re- 
fusal, he commenced the siege in form. An undisciplined 
rabble of between 3000 and 4000 gueux, under the direction 
of John de Soreas, gathered together in the neighborhood of 
Lille and Tournai, with a show of attacking these places. 
But the governor of the former town dispersed one party of 
them ; and Noircarmes surprised and almost destroyed the 
main body — their leader falling in the action.* These were 
the first encounters of the civil war, which raged without 
cessation for upwards of forty years in these devoted coun- 
tries, and which is universally allowed to be the most re- 
markable that ever desolated any isolated portion of Europe. 
The space which we have already given to the causes which 
produced this memorable revolution, now actually commenced, 
will not allow us to do more than rapidly sketch the fierce 
events that succeeded each other with frightful rapidity. 

While Valenciennes prepared for a vigorous resistance, a 
general synod of the Protestants was held at Antwerp, and 
De Brederode undertook an attempt to see the governant, and 
lay before her the complaints of this body : but she refused 
to admit him into the capital. He then addressed to her a 
r(->monstrance in writing, in which he reproached her with 
her violation of the treaties, on tlie faith of which the con- 
federates had dispersed, and the majority of the Protestants 
laid down their arms. He implored her to revoke the new 
proclamations, by which she prohibited them from the free 
exercise of their religion ; and above all things, he insisted 
on the abandonment of the siege of Valenciennes, and the 
disbanding of the new levies. The governant's reply was 
one of haughty reproach and defiance. The gauntlet was 
now thrown down ; no possible hope of reconciliation re- 
mained ; and the whole country flew to ai-ms. A sudden at- 
tempt on the part of the royalists, under count Meghom, 
against Bois-le-duc, Vv^as repulsed by 800 men, commanded 
by an officer named Bomberg, in the immediate service of 
De Brederode, who had fortified himself in his garrison town 
of Vienen. 

The prince of Orange maintained at Antwerp an attitude 
of extreme firmness and caution. His time for action had 

* BeutivogUo. 



i 



1567. SURRREXDER OF VALENCIENNES. 113 

not yet arrived ; but his advice and protection were of infi- 
nite importance oh many occasions. John de Marnix, lord 
of Toulouse, brother of Philip de St. Aldegonde, took pos- 
session of Osterweel on the Scheldt, a quarter of a league 
from Antwerp, and fortified himself in a strong- position. But 
he was impetuously attacked by the count de Lannoy with a 
considerable force, and perished, after a desperate defence, 
with full 1000 of his followers. Three hundred who laid 
down their arms, were immediately after the action butch- 
ered in cold blood.* Antwerp was on this occasion saved 
from the excesses of its divided and furious citizens, and pre- 
served from the horrors of pillage, by the calmness and in- 
trepidity of the prince of Orange. Valenciennes at length 
capitulated to the royalists, disheartened by the defeat and 
death of De Marnix, and terrified by a bombardment of 
thirty-six hours. The governor, two preachers, and about 
forty of the citizens, were hanged by the victors, and the 
reformed religion prohibited. Noircarmes promptly followed 
up his success. Maestricht, Turnhout, and Bois-le-duc sub- 
mitted at his approach ; and the insurgents were soon driven 
from all the provinces, Holland alone excepted. Brederode 
fled to Germany, where he died the following year.f 

The governant showed, in her success, no small proofs of 
decision. She and her counsellors, acting under orders from 
the kmg, were resolved on embarrassing to the utmost the 
patriot lords ; and a new oath of allegiance, to be proposed 
to every functionary of the state, was considered as a certain 
means for attaining this object without the violence of an un- 
merited dismissal. The terms of this oath were strongly op- 
posed to every principle of patriotism and toleration. Count 
Mansfield was the first of the nobles who took it. The duke 
of Arschot, counts Meghem, Berlaimont, and Egmont, fol- 
lowed his example. The counts of Horn, Hoogstraeten, De 
Brederode, and others, refused on various pretexts. Every 
artifice and persuasion was tried to induce the prince of 
Orange to subscribe to this new test ; but his resolution had 
been for some time formed. He saw that every chance of 
constitutional resistance to tyranny was for the present at an 
end. The time for petitioning was gone by. The confedera- 
tion was dissolved. A royalist army was in the field ; the 
duke of Alva was notoriously approaching at the head of 
another, more numerous. It was worse than useless to con- 
clude a hollow convention with the governant, of mock loy- 
alty on his part and mock confidence on hers. Many other 

* VandPivvnct. t Bentivogljo. 

8 



114 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1567. 

important considerations convinced William that his only- 
honorable, safe, and wise course was to exile himself from 
the Netherlands altogether, until more propitious circum- 
stances allowed of his acting- openly, boldly, and with effect. 

Before he put this plan of voluntary banishment mto exe- 
cution, he and Egmont had a parting interview, at the village 
of Willebroek, between Antwerp and Brussels. Count Mans- 
field, and Berti, secretary to the governant, were present at 
this memorable meeting. The details of what passed were 
reported to the confederates by one of their party, who con- 
trived to conceal himself in the chimney of the chamber.'^ 
Nothing could exceed the energetic warmth with which the 
two illustrious friends reciprocally endeavored to turn each 
other from their respective line of conduct; but in vain. 
Egmont's fatal confidence in the king was not to be shaken ; 
nor was Nassau's penetrating mind to be deceived by the 
romantic delusion which led away his friend. They sepa- 
rated with most affectionate expressions ; and Nassau was 
even moved to tears. His parting words were to the follow- 
ing effect : — " Confide, then, since it must be so, in the grati- 
tude of the king ; but a painful presentiment (God grant it 
may prove a false one !) tells me that you will serve the 
Spaniards as the bridge by which they will enter the country, 
and which they will destroy as soon as they have passed 
over it !"f 

On the 11th of April, a few days afler this conference, the 
prince of Orange set out for Germany, with his three bro- 
thers and his whole family, with the exception of his eldest 
son Philip William count de Beuren, whom he left behind a 
student in the university of Louvain. He believed that the 
privileges of the college and the franchises of Brabant would 
prove a sufficient protection to the youth ; and this appears 
the only instance in which William's vigilant prudence was 
deceived.! The departure of the prince seemed to remove all 
hope of protection or support from the unfortunate Pro- 
testants, now left the prey of their implacable tyrant. The 
confederation of the nobles was completely broken up. The 
counts of Hoogstraeten, Bergen, and Culembourg, followed the 
example of the prince of Orange, and escaped to Germany ; 
and the greater number of those who remained behind took 
the new oath of allegiance, and became reconciled to the 
government. § 

This total dispersion of the confederacy brought all the 
towns of Holland into obedience to the king. But the emi- 

* Schiller. f Vandervynct. t Scliillr-r. S Schiilpv 



1567. THE DUKE OF ALVA. 115 

gration which immediately commenced threatened the coun- 
try with ruin. England and Germany swarmed with Dutch and 
Belgian refugees ; and all the efforts of the governant could 
not restrain the thousands that took to flight. She was not 
more successful in her attempts to influence the measures of 
the king. She implored him, in repeated letters, to abandon 
his design of sending a foreign army into the country, which 
she represented as being now quite reduced to submission 
and tranquillity. She added, that the mere report of this 
royal invasion (so to call it) had already deprived the Nether- 
lands of many thousands of its best inhabitants ; and that the 
appearance of the troops would change it into a desert. 
These arguments, meant to dissuade, were the very means 
of encouraging Philip in his design. He conceived his pro- 
ject to be now ripe for the complete suppression of freedom ; 
and Alva soon began his march. 

On the 5th of May, 1567, this celebrated captain, whose 
reputation was so quickly destined to sink into the notoriety 
of an executioner, began his memorable march ; and on the 
22d of August, he, with his two natural sons, and his veteran 
army consisting of about 15,000 men, arrived at the walls of 
Brussels.* The discipline observed on this march was a ter- 
rible forewarning to the people of the Netherlands of the in- 
fluence of the general and the obedience of the troops. They 
had little chance of resistance against such soldiers so com- 
manded. 

Several of the Belgian nobility went forward to meet Alva, 
to render him the accustomed honors, and endeavor thus early 
to gain his good graces. Among them was the infatuated 
Egmont, who made a present to Alva of two superb horses, 
which the latter received with a disdainful air of condescen- 
sion.! Alva's first care was the distribution of his troops — 
several thousands of whom were placed in Antwerp, Ghent, 
and other important towns, and the remainder reserved under 
his own immediate orders at Brussels. His approach was 
celebrated by universal terror ; and his arrival was thoroughly 
humiliating to the duchess of Parma. He immediately pro- 
duced his commission as commander-in-chief of the royal 
armies in the Netherlands ; but he next showed her another, 
which confided to him powers infinitely more extended than 
any Marguerite herself had enjoyed, and which proved to her 
that the almost sovereign power over the country was virtu- 
ally vested in him. 

Alva first turned his attention to the seizure of those pa- 

* Bentivoglio. t Schiller. 



116 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1567 

triot lords whose pertinacious infatuation left them within his 
reach. He summoned a meeting of all the members of the 
council of state and the knig-hts of the order of the Golden 
Fleece, to deliberate on matters of great importance. Counts 
Egmont and Horn attended, among many others ; and at the 
conclusion of the council they were both arrested (some 
historians assert by the hands of Alva and his eldest son,*) as 
was also Van Straeten burgoinaster of Antwerp, and Casam- 
brot, Egmont's secretary. The young count of Mansfield 
appeared for a moment at this meeting ; but, warned by his 
father of the fate intended him, as an original member of the 
confederation, he had time to fly. The count of Hoogstraeten 
was happily detained by illness, and thus escaped the fate of 
his friends. Egmont and Horn were transferred to the cita- 
del of Ghent, under an escort of 3000 Spanish soldiers. Sev- 
eral other persons of the first families were arrested ; and 
those who had originally been taken in arms were executed 
without delay.f 

The next measures of the new governor were the re-es- 
tablishment of the inquisition, the promulgation of the decrees 
of the council of Trent, the revocation of the duchess of 
Parma's edicts, and the royal refusal to recognize the terms 
of her treaties with the Protestants. He immediately estab- 
lished a special tribunal, composed of twelve members, with 
full powers to inquire into and pronounce judgment on every 
circumstance connected with the late troubles. He named him- 
self president of this council, and appointed a Spaniard, named 
Vargas, as vice-president — a wretch of the most diabolical 
cruelty. Several others of the judges were also Spaniards, 
in direct infraction of the fundamental laws of the country. 
This council, immortalized by its infamy, was named by the 
new governor (for so Alva was in fact, though not yet in 
name,) the Council of Troubles. By the people it was soon 
designed the Council of Blood. In its atrocious proceedings 
no respect was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, how- 
ever sacred. Itsjudgments were without appeal. Every subject 
of the state was amenable to its summons ; clergy and laity, 
the first individuals of the country, as well as the most 
wretched outcasts of society. Its decrees were passed with 
disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. Contumacy was 
punished with exile and confiscation. Those who, strong in 
innocence, dared to brave a trial, were lost without resource. 
The accused were forced to its bar without previous warn- 
ing. Many a wealthy citizen was dragged to trial four 

^ Strrtda. Vandervynrt. f Schiller. 



1567. alva's tyranny. 117 

leagues' distance, tied to a horse's tail. The number of vic- 
tims was appalling. On one occasion, the town of Valen- 
ciennes alone saw fifty-five of its citizens fall by the hands 
of the executioner. Hanging, beheading, quartering, and 
burning, were the every-day spectacles. The enormous con- 
fiscations only added to the thirst for gold and blood by which 
Alva and his satellites were parched. History offers no ex- 
ample of parallel horrors: for while party vengeance on 
other occasions has led to scenes of fury and terror, they 
arose, in this instance, from the vilest cupidity and the most 
cold-blooded cruelty.* 

After three months of such atrocity, Alva, fatigued rather 
than satiated with butchery, resigned his hateful functions 
wholly into the hands of Vargas, who was chiefly aided by 
the members Delrio and Dela Torre. Even at this remote 
period we cannot repress the indignation excited by the men- 
tion of those monsters, and it is impossible not to feel satis- 
faction in fixing upon their names the brand of historic exe- 
cration. One of these wretches, called Hesselts, used at 
length to sleep during the mock trials of the already doomed 
victims ; and as often as he was roused up by his colleagues, 
he used to cry out mechanically, " To the gibbet ! to the 
gibbet ! " so familiar was his tongue with the sounds of con- 
demnation.! 

The despair of the people may be imagined from the fact, 
that until the end of the year 1567 their only consolation was 
the prospect of the king's arrival ! He never dreamt of com- 
ing. Even the delight of feasting in horrors like these could 
not conquer his indolence. The good duchess of Parma, — for 
so she was in comparison with her successor, — was not long 
left to oppose the feeble barrier of her prayers between Alva 
and his victims. She demanded her dismissal from the nomi- 
nal dignity, which was now but a title of disgrace. Philip 
granted it readily, accompanied by a hypocritical letter, a 
present of 30,000 crowns, and the promise of an annual pen- 
sion of 20,000 more. She left Brussels in the month of April, 
1568,f raised to a high place in the esteem and gratitude of the 
people, less by any actual claims from her own conduct, than 
by its fortuitous contrast v/ith the infamy of her successor. 
She retired to Italy, and died at Naples in the month of Feb- 
ruary, 1586. § 

Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo duke of Alva was of a dis- 
tinguished family in Spain, and even boasted of his descent 
from one of the Moorish monarchs who had reigned in the 

* Schiller. f Idem. J De Tlioii. § Vandervynct. 



118 HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 15()8. 

insignificant kingdom of Toledo. When he assumed the 
chief command in the Netherlands, he was sixty years of 
age ; having grown old and obdurate in pride, ferocity, and 
avarice. His deeds must stand instead of a more detailed 
portrait, which, to be thoroughly striking, should be traced 
with a pen dipped in blood. He was a fierce and clever sol- 
dier, brought up in the school of Charles V., and trained to 
his profession in the wars of that monarch in Germany, and 
subsequently in that of Philip II. against France.* In addi- 
tion to the horrors acted by the council of blood, Alva com- 
mitted many deeds of collateral but minor tyranny : among 
others, he issued a decree forbidding, under severe penalties, 
any inhabitant of the country to marry without his express 
permission. His furious edicts against emigration were at- 
tempted to be enforced in vain. Elizabeth of England opened 
all the ports of her kingdom to the Flemish refugees,! who 
carried with them those abundant stores of manufacturing 
knowledge which she wisely knew to be the elements of na- 
tional wealth. 

Alva soon summoned the prince of Orange, his brothers, 
and all the confederate lords, to appear before the council 
and answer to the charge of high treason. The prince gave 
a prompt and contemptuous answer, denying the authority 
of Alva and his council, and acknowledging for his judges 
only the emperor, whose vassal he was, or the king of Spain 
in person, as president of the order of the Golden Fleece. 
The other lords made replies nearly similar. The trials of 
each were, therefore, proceeded on, by contumacy ; confisca- 
tion of property being an object almost as dear to the tyrant 
viceroy as the death of his victims. Judgments were promptly 
pronounced against those present or absent, alive or dead. 
Witness the case of the unfortunate marquess of Bergues, who 
had previously expired at Madrid, as was universally believ- 
ed, by poison ; and his equally ill-fated colleague in the em- 
bassy, the baron Montigny, was for a while imprisoned at 
Segovia, where he was soon after secretly beheaded, on the 
base pretext of former disaffection.| 

The departure of the duchess of Parma having left Alva 
undisputed as well as unlimited authority, he proceeded 
rapidly in his terrible career. The count of Beuren was 
seized at Louvain, and sent prisoner to Madrid ; and wherever 
it was possible to lay hands on a suspected patriot, the 
occasion was not neglected. It would be a revolting task to 
enter into a minute detail of all the horrors commuted, and 

* Vandervynct. f Van Meteren. | Vandervynct. 



J 



1568. iioERORs or alya's administration. 119 

impossible to record the names of the victims who so quickly 
feli^before Alva's insatiate cruelty. The people were driven 
to frenzy. Bands of wretches fled to the woods and marshes ; 
whence, half famished and perishing- for want, they revenged 
themselves with pillage and murder. Pirates mfested and 
ravaged the coast; and thus, from both sea and land, the 
whole extent of the Netherlands was devoted to carnage and 
ruin.* The chronicles of Brabant and Holland,! chiefly 
written in Flemish by contemporary authors, abound in 
thrilling details of the horrors of this general desolation, with 
long lists of those who perished. Suffice it to say, that on 
the recorded boast of Alva himself, he caused 18,000 inhabit- 
ants of the Low Countries to perish by the hands of the exe- 
cutioner, during his less than six years' sovereignty in the 
Netherlands.! 

The most important of these tragical scenes was now soon 
to be acted. The counts Egraont and Horn, having submit- 
ted to some previous interrogatories by Vargas and others, 
were removed from Ghent to Brussels, on the 3d of June, 
under a strong escort. The following day they passed through 
the mockery of a trial before the council of blood ; and on the 
5th, they were both beheaded in the great square of Brussels, 
in the presence of Alva, who gloated on the spectacle from a 
balcony that commanded the execution. The same day Van- 
straelen and Casambrot shared the fate of their illustrious 
friends, in the castle of Vilvorde ; with many others, whose 
names only find a place in the local chronicles of the times. 
Egmont and Horn met their fate with the firmness expected 
from their well-proved courage. 

These judicial murders excited in the Netherlands an agi- 
tation without bounds. It was no longer hatred or aversion 
that filled men's minds, but fury a,nd despair. The out-burst- 
ing of a general revolt was hourly watched for. The foreign 
powers, without exception, expressed their disapproval of 
these executions. The emperor Maximilian 11. , and all the 
Catholic princes, condemned them. The former sent his 
brother expressly to the king of Spain, to warn him, that 
without a cessation of his cruelties, he could not restrain a 
general declaration from the members of the empire, which 
would, in all likelihood, deprive him of every acre of land in 
the Netherlands. § The princes of the Protestant states held 
no terms in the expression of their disgust and resentment ; 
and every thing seemed now ripe, both at home and abroad,- 
to favor the enterprise on which the prince of Orange was 

* Vandervynct. j I'atavia illustrated. tGrotins. §Vandervynct. 



120 HISTORY OP THl] NETHERLANDS. 156H, 

determined to risk his fortune and iiis life. But his principal 
resources were to be found in his genius and courage, and in 
the heroic devotion partaken by his whole family in the cause 
of their country. His brother, count John, advanced him a 
considerable sum of money ; the Flemings and Hollanders, in 
England and elsewhere, subscribed largely ; the prince him- 
self^ after raising loans in every possible way on his private 
means, sold his jewels, his plate, and even the furniture of 
his houses, and threw the amount into the common fund. 

Two remarkable events took place this year in Spain, and 
added to the general odium entertained against Philip's char- 
acter throughout Europe. The first was the death of his son 
don Carlos, whose sad story is too well known in connexion 
with the annals of his country to require a place here ; the 
other was the death of the queen. Universal opinion assigned 
poison as the cause ;* and Charles IX. of France, her brother, 
who loved her with great tenderness, seems to have jomed in 
this belief Astonishment and horror filled all minds on the 
double denouement of this romantic tragedy ; and the enemies 
of the tyrant reaped all the advantages it was so well adapted 
to produce them. 

The prince of Orange, having raised a considerable force 
in Germany, now entered on the war with all the well-di- 
rected energy by which he was characterized. The queen 
of England, the French Huguenots, and the Protestant princes 
of Germany, all lent him their aid in money or in men ; and 
he opened his first campaign with great advantage. He 
formed his army mto four several corps, intending to enter 
the country on as many different points, and by a sudden ir- 
ruption on that most vulnerable to rouse at once the hopes 
and the co-operation of the people. His brothers Louis and 
Adolphus, at the head of one of these divisions, penetrated 
into Friesland, and there commenced the contest. The count 
of Aremberg, governor of this province, assisted by the Span- 
ish troops under Gonsalvo de Bracamonte, quickly opposed 
the invaders. They met on the 24th of May near the abbey 
of Heiligerlee, which gave its name to the battle ; and after 
a short contest the royalists were defeated with great loss. 
The count of Aremberg and Adolphus of Nassau encountered 
in single combat, and fell by each other's hands.f The vic- 
tory was dearly purchased by the loss of this gallant prince, 
the first of his illustrious family, who have on so many occa- 
sions, down to these very days, freely shed their blood for the 

* Vandervynct. t Stiada. 



1568. DISASTERS OF THE PATRIOTS. 1'21 

freedom and happiness of the country which may be so em- 
phatically called their own. 

Alva immediately hastened to the scene of this first action, 
and soon forced count Louis to another at a place called Jem- 
minghem, near the town of Embden, on the 21st of July. 
Their forces were nearly equal, about 14,000 on either side ; 
but all the advantage of discipline and skill was in favor of 
Alva; and the consequence was, the total rout of the patriots 
with a considerable loss in killed and the whole of the cannon 
and baggage. The entire province of Friesland was thus 
again reduced to obedience, and Alva hastened back to Bra- 
bant to make head against the prmce of Orange. The latter 
had now under his command an army of 28,000 men, — an 
imposing force in point of numbers, being double that which 
his rival was able to muster. He soon made himself master 
of the towns of Tongres and St. Trend, and the whole prov- 
ince of Liege was in his power. He advanced boldly against 
Alva, and for several months did all that manoeuvring could 
do to force him to a battle. But the wily veteran knew his 
trade too well ; he felt sure that in time the prince's force 
would disperse for want of pay and supplies ; and he managed 
his resources so ably, that with little risk and scarcely any 
loss he finally succeeded in his object. In the month of Oc- 
tober the prince found himself forced to disband his large but 
undisciplined force ; and he retired into France to recruit his 
funds and consider on the best measures for some future en- 
terprise. 

The insolent triumph of Alva knew no bounds. The rest 
of the year was consumed in new executions. The hotel of 
Culembourg, the early cradle of De Brederode's confederacy, 
was rased to the ground, and a pillar erected on the spot 
commemorative of the deed ; while Alva, resolved to erect a 
monument of his success as well as of his hate, had his own 
statue in brass, formed of the cannons taken at Jemminghem, 
set up in the citadel of Antwerp, with various symbols of 
power and an inscription of inflated pride. 

The following year was ushered in by a demand of un- 
wonted and extravagant rapacity ; the establishment of two 
taxes on property, personal and real, to the amount of the 
hundredth penny (or denier) on each kind; and at every 
transfer or sale, ten per cent, on personal, and five per cent, 
for real property. The states-general, of whom this demand 
was made, were unanimous in their opposition, as well as the 
ministers ; but particularly De Berlaimont and Viglius. Alva 
was so irritated that he even menaced tiie venerable presi- 
dent of the council, but could not succeed in intimidating- 



3 22 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1570. 

him. He obstinately persisted in his design for a considera- 
ble period ; resisting- arguments and prayers, and even the 
more likely means tried for softening his cupidity, by fur- 
nishing him with sums from other sources equivalent to those 
which the new taxes were calculated to produce.* To his 
repeated threats against Viglius the latter replied, that " he 
was convinced the king w^ould not condemn him unheard ; 
but that at any rate his gray hairs saved him from any ignoble 
fear of death. "f 

A deputation was sent from the states-general to Philip, 
explaining the impossibility of persevering in the attempted 
taxes, which were incompatible with every principle of com- 
mercial liberty.; But Alva would not abandon his design till 
he had forced every province into resistance, and the king 
himself commanded him to desist. The events of this and 
the following year (1.570) may be shortly summed up ; none 
of any striking interest or eventual importance having oc- 
curred. The sufferings of the country were increasing from, 
day to day under the intolerable t3''ranny which bore it down. 
The patriots attempted nothing on land ; but their naval force 
began from this time to acquire that consistency and power 
which was so soon to render it the chief means of resistance 
and the great source of wealth. The privateers or corsairs, 
which began to swarm from every port in Holland and Zea- 
land, and which found refuge in all those of England, sullied 
many gallant exploits by instances of culpable excess ; so 
much so, that the prince of Orange was forced to withdraw 
the command which he had delegated to the lord of Dolhain, 
and to replace him by Gislain de Fiennes : for already seve- 
ral of the exiled nobles and ruined merchants of Antwerp 
and Amsterdam had joined these bold adventurers ; and pur- 
chased or built, with the remnant of their fortunes, many 
vessels, in which they carried on a most productive warfare 
against Spanish commerce through the whole extent of the 
English channel, from the mouth of the Embs to the harbor 
of La Rochelle.§ 

One of those frightful inundations to which the northern 
provinces were so constantly exposed, occurred this year, 
carrying away the dikes, and destroying lives and property 
to a considerable amount. In Friesland alone 20,000 men 
were victims to this calamity. But no suffering could affect 
the inflexible sternness of the duke of Alva ; and to such 
excess did he carry his persecution, that Philip himself be- 



* Vandervynct. f Vi.^lii Comment, p. 307. 

t De Neiiy, Miift, Hist, et Pol. surles Pays Bas. § Vandervynct. 



1572. LA OEKDA S APPOINTMENT. 123 

gan to be discontented, and thought his representative was 
overstepping the bounds of delegated tyranny. He even re- 
proached him sharply in some of his dispatches. The gov- 
ernor replied in the same strain ; and such was the effect of 
this correspondence, that Philip resolved to remove him from 
his command. But the king's marriage with Anne of Aus- 
tria, daughter of the emperor Maximilian, obliged him to 
defer his intentions for a vv^hile ; and he at length named 
John de la Cerda, duke of Medina-Celi, for Alva's successor. 
Upwards of a year, however, elapsed before this new govern- 
or was finally appointed; and he made his appearance on 
the coast of Flanders with a considerable fleet, on the 11th 
of May, 1572. He was afforded on this very day a specimen 
of the sort of people he came to contend with ; for his fleet 
was suddenly attacked by that of the patriots, and many of 
his vessels burned and taken before his eyes, with their rich 
cargoes and considerable treasures intended for the service 
of the state.* 

The duke of Medina-Celi proceeded rapidly to Brussels, 
where he was ceremoniously received by Alva, who however 
refused to resign the government, under the pretext that the 
term of his appointment had not expired, and that he was 
resolved first to completely suppress all symptoms of revolt 
in the northern provinces. He succeeded in effectually dis- 
gusting La Cerda, who almost immediately demanded and 
obtained his own recall to Spain. Alva, left once more in 
undisputed possession of his power, turned it with increased 
vigor into new channels of oppression. He was soon again 
employed in efforts to effect the levying of his favorite taxes; 
and such was the resolution of the tradesmen of Brussels, 
that, sooner than submit, they almost universally closed their 
shops altogether. Alva, furious at this measure, caused sixty 
of the citizens to be seized, and ordered them to be hanged 
opposite their own doors. The gibbets were actually erected, 
when, on the very morning of the day fixed for the execu- 
tions, he received dispatches that wholly disconcerted him, 
and stopped their completion.f 

To avoid an open rupture with Spain, the queen of Eng- 
land had just at this time interdicted the Dutch and Flemish 
privateers from taking shelter in her ports. William de la 
Marck count of Lunoy had now the chief command of this 
adventurous force. He was distinguished by an inveterate 
hatred against the Spaniards, and had made a wild and ro- 
mantic vow never to cut his hair or beard till he had avenged 

* Vandervynct. t Mem. 



124 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1572. 

the murders of Egmont and Horn. He was impetuous arid 
terrible in all his actions, and bore the surname of " the v.- ild 
boar of the Ardennes." Driven out of the harbors of Eng- 
land, he resolved on some desperate enterprise ; and on the 
1st of April he succeeded in surprising the little town of 
Brille, in the island of Voorn, situate between Zealand and 
Holland. This insignificant place acquired great celebrity 
from this event, which may be considered the first successful 
step towards the establishment of liberty and the republic* 

Alva was confounded by the news of this exploit, but with 
his usual activity he immediately turned his whole attention 
towards the pohit of greatest danger. His embarrassment, 
however, became every day more considerable. Lunoy's 
success was tlie signal of a general revolt. In a few days 
every town in Holland aud Zealand declared for liberty, 
with the exception of Amsterdam and Middleburg, where 
the Spanish garrisons were too strong for the people to at- 
tempt their expulsion. 

The prince of Orange, who had been on the watch for a 
favorable moment, now entered Brabant at the head of 20,000 
men, composed of French, German, and English, and made 
himself master of several important places ; while his inde- 
fatigable brother Louis, with a minor force, suddenly appeared 
in Hainault, and, joined by a la rge body of French Huguenots 
under De Genlis, he seized on Mons, the capital of the prov- 
ince, on the 25th of May. 

Alva turned first towards the recovery of this important 
place, and gave the command of the siege to his son Frederic 
of Toledo, who was assisted by the counsels of Noircarmes 
and Vitelli ; but Louis of Nassau held out for upwards of 
three months, and only surrendered on an honorable capitu- 
lation in the month of September ; his French allies having 
been first entirely defeated, and their brave leader De Genlis 
taken prisoner. The prince of Orange had in the mean time 
secured possession of Louvaine, Ruremonde, Mechlin, and 
other towns, carried Termonde and Oudenarde by assault, 
and made demonstrations which seemed to court Alva once 
more to try the fortune of the campaign in a pitched battle. 
Bat such were not William's real intentions,! nor did the 
cautious tactics of his able opponent allow him to provoke 
such a risk. He, however, ordered his son Frederic to march 
with all his force into Holland, and he soon undertook tlie 
siege of Haerlem. By the time that Mons fell again into the 
power of the Spaniards, sixty-five towns and their territories, 

* Vandervynct. t Idem. 



1573. HAEELEM BESIEGED. 125 

chiefly in the northern provinces, had thrown off the yoke. 
The single port of Flessingue contained 150 patriot vessels, 
w^ell armed and equipped ;* and from that epoch may be dated 
the rapid grow^th of the first naval power in Europe, with the 
single exception of Great Britain. 

It is here worthy of remark, that all the horrors of which 
the people of Flanders were the victims, and m their full 
pj-oportion, had not the effect of exciting them to revolt ; but 
they rose up with fury against the payment of the new taxes. 
They sacrificed every thing sooner than pay these unjust ex- 
actions — Omnia dahant, ne decimam darant.] The next im- 
portant event in these wars was the siege of Haerlem, before 
which place the Spaniards were arrested in their progress 
for seven months, and which they at length succeeded in 
taking with a loss of 10,000 men. 

The details of this memorable siege are calculated to 
arouse every feeling of pity for the heroic defenders, and of 
execration against the cruel assailants. A widow, named 
Kenau Hasselaer, gained a niche in history by her remark- 
able valor at the head of a battalion of 300 of her townswo- 
men, who bore a part in all the labors and perils of the siege.| 
After the surrender, and in pursuance of Alva's common sys- 
tem, his ferocious son caused the governor and the other 
chief officers to be beheaded ; and upwards of 2000 of the 
worn-out garrison and burghers were either put to the sword, 
or tied two and two, and drowned in the lake which gives its 
name to the town.§ Tergoes in South Beveland, Mechlin, 
Naerden, and other towns, were about the same period the 
scenes of gallant actions, and of subsequent cruelties of the 
most revolting nature as soon as they fell into the power of 
the Spaniards.il Horrors like these were sure to force repri- 
sals on the part of the maddened patriots. De la Marck 
carried on his daring exploits with a cruelty which excited 
the indignation of the prince of Orange, by whom he was 
removed from his command. The contest was for a while 
prosecuted, with a decrease of vigor proportioned to the 
serious losses on both sides ; money and the munitions of 
war began to fail ; and though the Spaniards succeeded in 
taking the Hague, they were repulsed before Alkmaer with 
great loss, and their fleet was almost entirely destroyed in a 
naval combat on the Zuyder Zee. The count Bossu, their 



* Cerisier. t Grotius. | Strada. § Bentivoglio. 

iJStrada, with all his bigotry to the Spanish cause, admits that these ex- 
cesses were atrocious crimeg rather than just punishments: non prpna. s^ed 
fiaffitiurtt. 



126 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1573. 

admiral, was taken in this fight, with about 300 of his best 
sailors. 

Holland was now from one end to the other the theatre of 
the most shocking events. While the people performed deeds 
of the greatest heroism, the perfidy and cruelty of the Span- 
iards had no bounds. The patriots saw more danger in sub- 
mission thai) in resistance ; each town, which was in succes 
sion subdued, endured the last extremities of suffering before 
it yielded, and victory was frequently the consequence of 
despair.* This unlooked-for turn in. affairs decided the king 
to remove Alva, whose barbarous and rapacious conduct 
was now objected to even by Philip, when it produced re- 
sults disastrous to his cause. Don Luis Zanega y Requesens, 
commander of the order of Malta, was named to the gov- 
ernment of the Netherlands. He arrived at Brussels on the 
17th of November, 1573 ; and on the 18th of the following- 
month, the monster whom he succeeded set out for Spain, 
loaded with the booty to which he had waded through oceans 
of blood, and with the curses of the country, which, how- 
ever, owed its subsequent freedom to the impulse given by 
his intolerable cruelty. He repaired to Spain ; and after va- 
rious fluctuations of favor and disgrace at the hands of his 
congenial master, he died in his bed, at Lisbon, in 1582, at 
the advanced age of seventy-four years. 



CHAP. X. 
1573—1576. 

TO THE PACIFICATION 01^ GHENT. 

The character of Requesens was not more opposed to that 
of his predecessor, than were the instructions given to him 
for his government. He was an honest, well-meaning, and 
moderate man ;f and the king of Spain hoped, that by his in- 
fluence and a total change of measures, he might succeed in 
recalling the Netherlands to obedience. But, happily for the 
country, this change was adopted too late for success ; and 
the wealmess of the new government completed the glorious 
results which the ferocity of the former had prepared. 

Requesens performed all that depended on him, to gain the 
confidence of the people. He caused Alva's statue to be rc- 

* Grolius. Strada. Bentivoglio. f De Thou. 



1574. REQUESENS' GOVER]SMEI\"T. 127 

moved ; and hoped to efface the memory of the tyrant, by 
dissolving the council of blood, and abandoning the obnoxious 
taxes which their inventor had suspended rather than abol- 
ished. A general amnesty was also promulgated against the 
revolted provinces : they received it with contempt and defi- 
ance. Nothing then was left to Requesens but to renew the 
war; and this he found to be a matter of no easy execution. 
The finances were in a state of the greatest confusion ; and 
the Spanish troops w^ere in many places seditious, in some 
openly mutinous, Alva having left large arrears of pay due 
to almost all, notwithstanding the immense amount of his 
pillage and extortion.* Middleburg, which had long sus- 
tained a siege against all the efforts of the patriots, w^as now 
nearly reduced by famine, notwithstanding the gallant efforts 
of its governor, Mondragon. Requesens turned his imme- 
diate attention to the relief of this important place ; and he 
soon assembled, at Antwerp and Bergen-op-Zoom, a fleet of 
sixty vessels for that purpose. But Louis Boisot, admiral of 
Zealand, promptly repaired to attack this force ; and after a 
severe action he totally defeated it, and killed De Glimes, one 
of its admirals, under the eyes of Requesens himself, who, 
accompanied by his suite, stood during the whole affair on the 
dike of Schakerloo.f This action took place the 29th of 
January, 1574; and, on the 19th of February following, Mid- 
dleburg surrendered, after a resistance of two years. The 
prince of Orange granted such conditions as were due to the 
bravery of the governor ; and thus set an example of gene- 
rosity and honor which greatly changed the complexion of 
the war.| All Zealand was now free ; and the intrepid ad- 
miral Boisot gained another victory on the 30th of May, — 
destroymg several of the Spanish vessels, and taking some 
others, with their admiral Von Haemstede. Frequent naval 
enterprises were also undertaken against the frontiers of 
Flanders ; and while the naval forces thus harassed the ene- 
my on every vulnerable point, the unfortunate provinces of 
the interior were ravaged by the mutinous and revolted Span- 
iards, and by the native brigands, who pillaged both royalists 
and patriots with atrocious impartiality. 

To these manifold evils was now added one more terrible, 
in the appearance of the plague, which broke out at Ghent 
in the month of October, and devastated a great part of the 
Netherlands ; not, however, with that violence with which 
it rages in more southern climates. § 

Requesens, overwhelmed by difficulties, yet exerted him- 

* Vandervynct, f Idem. t Meteren. § Vandervynct 



128 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1574. 

self to the utmost to put the best face on the affairs of gov- 
ernment. His chief care was to appease the mutinous sol- 
diery : he even caused his plate to be melted, and freely gave 
the produce towards the payment of their arrears. The pa- 
triots, well informed of this state of things, labored to turn it 
to their best advantage. They opened the campaign in the 
province of Guelders, where Louis of Nassau, with his 
younger brother Henry, and the prince Palatine, son of the 
elector Frederick III., appeared at the head of 11,000 men : 
the prince of Orange prepared to join him with an equal 
number ; but Requesens promptly dispatched Sanchez d'Avila 
to prevent this junction. The Spanish commander quickly 
passed the Mouse near Nimeguen ; and on the 14th of April 
he forced count Louis to a battle, on the great plain called 
Mookerheyde, close to the village of Mook. The royalists 
attacked with their usual valor ; and after two hours of hard 
fighting, the confederates were totally defeated. The three 
gallant princes were among the slain, and their bodies were 
never afterwards discovered. It has been stated, on doubtful 
authority, that Louis of Nassau, after having lain some time 
among the heaps of dead, dragged himself to the side of the 
river Meuse, and while washing his wounds, was inhumanly 
murdered by some straggling peasants, to whom he was un- 
known.* The unfortunate fate of this enterprising prince 
was a severe blow to the patriot cause, and a cruel affliction 
to the prince of Orange. He had now already lost three 
brothers in the war ; and remained alone, to revenge their 
fate, and sustain the cause for which they had perished. 

D'Avila soon found his victory to be as fruitless as it was 
brilliant. The ruffian troops, by whom it was gained, became 
immediately self-disbanded; threw off all authority; hastened 
to possess themselves of Antwerp ; and threatened to proceed 
to the most horrible extremities, if their pay was longer with- 
held. The citizens succeeded with difficulty in appeasing 
them, by the sacrifice of some money in part payment of their 
claims. Requesens took advantage of their temporary calm, 
and dispatched them promptly to take part in the siege of 
Leyden.f 

This siege formed another of those numerous instances 
which became so memorable from the mixture of heroism and 
horror. Jean Vanderdoes, known in literature by the name 
of Dousa, and celebrated for his Latin poems, commanded the 
place. Valdez, who conducted the siege, urged Dousa to sur- 
render ; when the latter replied, in the name of the inhab- 

* Harseus. f Vandervynct. 



1575. SIEGE OF LEYDEN. 129 

itants, " that when provisions failed them, they would devour 
their left hands, reserving- the right to defend their liberty." 
A party of the inhabitants, driven to disobedience and revolt 
by the excess of misery to which they were shortly reduced, 
attempted to force the burgomaster, Vanderwerf, to supply 
them with bread, or yield up the place. But he sternly made 
the celebrated answer, which cannot be remembered without 
shuddering — " Bread I have none ; but if my death can af- 
tbrd you relief, tear my body in pieces, and let those who are 
most hungry devour it!" 

But in this extremity relief at last was afforded by the 
decisive measures of the prince of Orange, who ordered all 
the neighboring dikes to be opened and the sluices raised, 
thus sweeping away the besiegers on the waves of the ocean : 
the inhabitants of Leyden were apprized of this intention by 
means of letters intrusted to the safe carriage of pigeons 
trained for the purpose.* The inundation was no sooner 
effected, than hundreds of flat-bottomed boats brought abun- 
dance of supplies to the half-famished town ; while a violent 
storm carried the sea across the country for twenty leagues 
around, and destroyed the Spanish camp, with above 1000 
soldiers, who were overtaken by the flood. This deliverance 
took place on the 3d of October, on which day it is still an- 
nually celebrated by the descendants of the grateful citizens.f 

It was now for the first time that Spain would consent to 
listen to advice or mediation, which had for its object the 
termination of this frightful war. The emperor Maximilian IT. 
renewed at this epoch his efforts with Philip ; and under such 
favorable auspices conferences commenced at Breda, where 
the counts Swartzenberg and Hohenloe, brothers-in-law of 
the prince of Orange, met, on the part of the emperor, the 
deputies from the king of Spain and the patriots ; and hopes 
of a complete pacification were generally entertained. But 
three months of deliberation proved their fallacy. The 
patriots demanded toleration for the reformed religion. The 
king's deputies obstinately refused it. The congress was 
therefore broken up; and both oppressors and oppressed 
resumed their arms with increased vigor and tenfold des- 
peration. 

Requesens had long fixed his eyes on Zealand as the 
scene of an expedition by which he hoped to repair the 
failure before Leyden ; and he caused an attempt to be made 
on the town of Zuriczee, in the island of Scauwen, which 

* Strada. f Vandervynct. 



130 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1675. 

merits record as one of the boldest and most original enter- 
prises of the war. 

The little islands of Zealand are separated from each other 
by narrow branches of the sea, which are fordable at low 
water ; and it was by such a passage, two leagues in breadth, 
and till then untried, that the Spanish detachment of 1750 
men, under UUoa and other veteran captains, advanced to 
their exploit in the midst of dangers greatly increased by a 
night of total darkness. Each man carried round his neck 
two pounds of gunpowder, with a sufficient supply of biscuit 
for two days ; and holding their swords and muskets high 
over their heads, they boldly waded forward, three abreast, 
in some places up to their shoulders in water. The alarm 
was soon given ; and a shower of balls was poured upon the 
gallant band, from upwards of forty boats which the Zea- 
landers sent rapidly towards the spot. The only light afforded 
to either party was from the flashes of their guns ; and while 
the adventurers advanced with undaunted firmness, their 
equally daring assailants, jumping from their boats into the 
water, attacked them with oars and hooked handspikes, by 
which many of the Spaniards were destroyed. The rear- 
guard, in this extremity, cut off from their companions, was 
obliged to retreat ; but the rest, after a considerable loss, at 
length reached the land, and thus gained possession of the 
island, on the night of the 28th of September, 1575.* 

Requesens quickly afterwards repaired to the scene of this 
gallant exploit, and commenced the siege of Zuriczee, which 
he did not live to see completed. After having passed the 
winter months in preparations for the success of this object 
which he had so much at heart, he was recalled to Brussels 
by accounts of new mutinies in the Spanish cavalry ; and the 
very evening before he reached the city he was attacked by 
a violent fever, which carried him off five days afterwards, 
on the 5th of March, 1576.t 

The suddenness of Requesen's illness had not allowed time 
for even the nomination of a successor, to which he was 
authorized by letters patent from the king. It is believed 
that his intention was to appoint count Mansfield to the com- 
mand of the army, and De Berlaimont to the administration 
of civil affairs.^ The government, however, now devolved 
entirely into the hands of the council of state, which was at 
that period composed of nine members. The principal of 
these was Philip de Croi duke of Arschot; the other leading 
members were Viglius, counts Mansfield and Berlaimont; 

* Strada. t Bentiv'oglio. i.ifirada. 



1576. DISASTROUS CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 131 

and the council was degraded by numbering-, among the rest. 
Debris and De Roda, two of the notorious Spaniards who had 
formed part of the council of blood. 

The king resolved to leave the authority in the hands of 
this incongraous mixture, until the arrival of don John of 
Austria, his natural brother, whom he had already named to 
the office of governor-general. But in the interval the 
government assumed an aspect of unprecedented disorder ; 
and wide-spread anarchy embraced the whole country. The 
royai troops openly revolted, and fought against each other 
like deadly enemies. The nobles, divided in their views, ar- 
rogated to themselves in different places the titles and powers 
of command. Public faith and private probity seemed alike 
destroyed. Pillage, violence, and ferocity, were the com- 
monplace characteristics of the times.f 

Circumstances like these may be well supposed to have 
revived the hopes of the prince of Orange, who quickly saw 
amidst this chaos the elements of order, strength, and 
liberty. Such had been his previous affliction at the harrow- 
ing events which he witnessed, and despaired of being able 
to relieve, that he had proposed to the patriots of Holland and 
Zealand to destroy the dikes, submerge the whole country, 
and abandon to the waves the soil which refused security to 
freedom. But Providence destined him to be the savior, in- 
stead of the destroyer, of his country. The chief motive of this 
excessive desperation had been the apparent desertion by 
queen Elizabeth of the cause which she had hitherto so 
mainly assisted. Offended at the capture of some English 
ships by the Dutch, who asserted that they carried supplies 
for the Spaniards, she withdrew from them her protection : 
but by timely submission they appeased her wrath ; and it is 
thought by some historians, that even thus early the prince 
of Orange proposed to place the revolted provinces wholly 
under her protection. This, however, she for the time refused ; 
but she strongly solicited Philip's mercy for these unfortunate 
countries, through the Spanish ambassador at her court. 

In the mean time the council of state at Brussels seemed 
disposed to follow up as far as possible the plans of Requesens. 
The siege of Zuriczee was continued ; but speedy dissensions 
among the members of the government rendered their au- 
thority contemptible, if not utterly extinct, in the eyes of the 
people. The exhaustion of the treasury deprived them of all 
power to put an end to the mutinous excesses of the Spanish 
troops, and the latter carried their licentiousness to the utmost 



132 HISTORY OF THE NETHEIiLANDS. 1576. 

bounds. Zuriczee, admitted to a surrender, and saved from 
pillage by the payment of a large sum, was lost to the roy- 
alists within three months, from the want of discipline in its 
garrison ; and the towns and burghs of Brabant suffered as 
much from the excesses of their nominal protectors as could 
have been inflicted by the enemy. The mutineers at length, 
to the number of some thousands, attacked and carried by 
force the town of Alost, at equal distances between Brussels, 
Ghent, and Antwerp ; imprisoned the chief citizens; and levied 
contributions on all the country round. It was then that the 
council of state found itself forced to proclaim them rebels, 
traitors, and enemies to the king and the country, and called 
on all loyal subjects to pursue and exterminate them wherever 
they were found in arms.* 

This proscription of the Spanish mutineers was followed 
by the convocation of the states-general ; and the government 
thus hoped to maintain some show of union, and some chance 
of authority. But a new scene of intestine violence com- 
pleted the picture of executive inefficiency. On the 4th of 
September, the grand bailiff of Brabant, as lieutenant of the 
baron de Hesse, governor of Brussels, entered the council- 
chamber by force, and arrested all the members present, on 
suspicion of treacherously maintaining intelligence with the 
Spaniards. Counts Mansfield and Berlaimont were impris- 
oned, with some others. Viglius escaped this indignity by 
being absent from indisposition. This bold measure was 
hailed by the people with unusual joy, as the signal for that 
total change in the government which they reckoned on as 
the prelude to complete freedom. 

The states-general were all at this time assembled, with 
the exception cf those of Flanders, who joined the others with 
but little delay. The general reprobation against the Span- 
iards procured a second decree of proscription ; and their 
desperate conduct justified the utmost violence with which 
they might be pursued. They still held the citadels of Ghent 
and Antwerp, as well as Maestricht, which they had seized 
on, sacked, and pillaged with all tlie fury which a barbarous 
enemy inflicts on a town carried by assault. On the 3d of 
November, the other body of mutineers, in possession of 
Alost, marched to the support of their fellow brigands in the 
citadel of Antwerp ; and both, simultaneously attacking this 
magnificent city, became masters of it in all points, in spite 
of a vigorous resistance on the part of the citizens. They 
then began a scene of rapine and destruction unequalled in 

* Bentivoglio 



1576. PACIFICATION OF GHENT. IS'l 

the annals of these desperate wars. More than 500 private 
mansions and the splendid town-house were delivered to the 
flames : 7000 citizens perished by the sword or in the waters 
of the Scheldt For three days the carnage and the pillage 
went on with unheard-of fury ; and the most opulent town in 
Europe was thus reduced to ruin and desolation by a few 
thousand frantic ruffians. The loss was valued at above 
2,000,000 golden crowns. Vargas and Romero were the 
principal leaders of this infernal exploit ; and De Roda gained 
a new title to his immortality of shame, by standing forth as 
its apologist. 

The states-general, assembled at Ghent, were solemnly 
opened on the 14th of September. Being apprehensive of a 
sudden attack from the Spanish troops in the citadel, they 
proposed a negotiation, and demanded a protecting force from 
the prince of Orange, who immediately entered into a treaty 
with their envoy, and sent to their assistance eight compa- 
nies of infantry and seventeen pieces of cannon, under the 
command of the English colonel Temple.* In the midst of 
this turmoil and apparent insecurity, the states-general pro- 
ceeded in their great work, and assumed tlie reins of govern- 
ment in the name of the king. They allowed the council of 
state still nominally to exist, but they restricted its powers 
far within those it had hitherto exercised ; and the govern- 
ment, thus absolutely assuming the form of a republic, issued 
manifestoes in justification of its conduct, and demanded suc- 
cor from all the foreign powers. To complete the union be- 
tween the various provinces, it was resolved to resume the 
negotiations commenced the preceding year at Breda ; and 
the 10th of October was fixed for this new congress to be 
held in the town-house of Ghent. 

On the day appointed, the congress opened its sittings ; 
and rapidly arriving at the termination of its important object, 
the celebrated treaty known by the title of The Pacification 
of Ghent was published on the 8th of November, to the 
sound of bells and trumpets ; while the ceremony was ren- 
dered still more imposing by the thunder of the artillery 
which battered the walls of the besieged citadel. It was 
even intended to have delivered a general assault against the 
place at the moment of the proclamation ; but the mutineers 
demanded a capitulation, and finally surrendered three days 
afterwards. It was the wife of the famous Mondragon who 
commanded the place in her husband's absence ; and by her 
heroism gave a new proof of the capability of the sex to sur- 

* Vandervynct. 



1'34 HISTOKY or THE NETHERLANDS. 1576. 

pass the limits which nature seems to have fixed for their 
conduct. 

The Pacification contained twenty-five articles : — amongst 
others, it was agreed, 

That a full amnesty should be passed for all offences what- 
soever. 

That the estates of Brabant, Flanders, Hainault, Artois, 
nd others, on the one part ; the prince of Orange, and the 
states of Holland and Zealand and their associates, on the 
other; promised to maintain good faith, peace, and friend- 
ship, firm and inviolable ; to mutually assist each other, at 
all times, in council and action ; and to employ life and for- 
tune, above all things, to expel from the country the Spanish 
soldiers and other foreigners. 

That no one should be allowed to injure or insult, by word 
or deed, the exercise of the Catholic religion, on pain of being 
treated as a disturber of tlie public peace. 

That the edicts against heresy and the proclamations of 
the duke of Alva should be suspended. 

That all confiscations, sentences, and judgments rendered 
since 1566, should be annulled. 

That the inscriptions, monuments, and trophies erected by 
the duke of Alva should be demolished. 

Such were the general conditions of the treaty ; the re- 
maining articles chiefly concerned individual interests. The 
promulgation of this great charter of union, which was con- 
sidered as the fundamental law of the country, was hailed in 
all parts of the Netherlands with extravagant demonstrations 
of joy. 



CHAP. XI. 
1576—1580. 

TO THE RENUNCIATION OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN AND THE 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

On the very day of the sack of Antwerp, don John of Aus- 
tria arrived at Luxembourg. This ominous commencement 
of his vice-regal reign was not belied by the events which 
followed ; and the hero of Lepanto, the victor of the Turks, 
the idol of Christendom, was destined to have his reputation 
and well-won laurels tarnished in the service of the insidious 
despotism \o which he now became an instrument. Don John 



1576. DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. 135 

was a natural son of Charles V., and to fine talents and a 
good disposition united the advantages of hereditary courage 
and a liberal education. He was born at Ratisbon, on the 
24th of February, 1543.* His reputed mother was a young 
lady of that place, named Barbara Blomberg : but one histo- 
rian states, that the real parent was of a condition too elevated 
to have her rank betrayed ; and that, to conceal the mystery, 
Barbara Blomberg had voluntarily assumed the distinction,! 
or the dishonor, according to the different constructions put 
upon the case. The prince, having passed through France, 
disguised, for greater secrecy or in a youthful frolic, as a 
negro valet to Prince Octavo Gonzaga,| entered on the limits 
of his new government, and immediately wrote to the council 
of state in the most condescending terms to announce liis ar- 
rival. § 

Nothing could present a less promising aspect to the prince 
than the country at the head of which he was now placed. 
He found all its provinces, with the sole exception of liuxem- 
bourg, in the anarchy attendant on a ten years' civil war, 
and apparently resolved on a total breach of their allegiance 
to Spain. He found his best, indeed his only, course to be 
that of moderation and management ; and it is most probable 
that at the outset his intentions were really honorable and 
candid. 

The states-general were not less embarrassed than the 
prince. His sudden arrival threw them into great perplexity, 
which was increased by the conciliatory tone of his letter. 
They had now removed from Ghent to Brussels ; and first 
sending deputies to pay the honors of a ceremonious welcome 
to don John, they wrote to the prince of Orange, then in 
Holland, for his advice in this difficult conjuncture. The 
prince replied by a memorial of considerable length, dated 
Middleburg, the 30th of November, in which he gave them 
the most wise and prudent advice ; the substance of which 
was to receive any propositions coming from the wily and 
perfidious Philip with the utmost suspicion, and to refuse all 
negotiation with his deputy, if the immediate withdrawal of 
the foreign troops was not at once conceded, and the accept- 
ance of the pacification guarantied in its most ample extent. |1 

This advice was implicitly followed ; the states in the mean 
time taking tJie precaution of assembling a large body of 
troops at Wavre, between Brussels and Namur, the command 
of which was given to the count of Lalain. A still more im- 

* Strada. t Amelot de la Houssaye, t Strada. 

§ BentivogUo. || Meteren, 1. 6, 



j 3(J HISTORY OF THK JNETHEKLAInDS. ]~>77 

portant measure was the dispatch of an envoy to England, to 
UTiplore the assistance of Elizabeth. She acted on this occa- 
sion with frankness and intrepidity ; giving- a distinguished 
reception to the envoy De Sweveghem, and advancing a loan 
of lOOjOOOZ, sterling, on condition that the states made no 
treaty without her knowledge or participation.* 

To secure still more closely the federal union that now 
bound the different provinces, a new compact was concluded 
by the deputies on the 9th of January, 1577, known by the 
title of The Union of Brussels, and signed by the prelates, 
ecclesiastics, lords, gentlemen, magistrates, and others, re- 
presenting the estates of the Netherlands. A copy of this act 
of union was transmitted to don John, to enable him thoroughly 
to understand the present state of feeling- among those with 
whom he was now about to negotiate. He maintained a 
general tone of great moderation throughout the conference 
which immediately took place ; and after some months of cau- 
tious parleying, in the latter part of which the candor of the 
prince seemed doubtful, and which the native historians do 
not hesitate to stigmatize as merely assumed, a treaty was 
signed at Marche-en-Famenne, a place between Namur and 
Luxembourg, in which every point insisted on by the states 
was, to the surprise and delight of the nation, fully consented 
to and guarantied. This important document is called The 
Perpetual Edict, bears date the 12th of February, 1577, and 
contains nineteen articles. They were all based on the ac- 
ceptance of the Pacification ; but one expressly stipulated 
that the count of Beuren should be set at liberty, as soon as 
the prince of Orange, his father, had on his part ratified the 
treaty.! 

D.on John made his solemn entry into Brussels on the 1st 
of May, and assumed the functions of his limited autliority. 
The conditions of the treaty were promptly and regularly 
fulfilled. The citadels occupied by the Spanish soldiers were 
given up to the Flemish and Walloon troops ; and the depar- 
ture of these ferocious foreigners took place at once. The 
large sums required to facilitate this measure made it neces- 
sary to submit for a while to the presence of the German 
mercenaries. But don John's conduct soon destroyed the 
temporary delusion which had deceived the country. Whether 
his projects were hitherto only concealed, or that they were 
now for the first time excited by the disappointment of those 
hopes of authority held out to him by Philip, and which his 
predecessors had shared, it is certain that he very early dis- 

* Meteren, 1. 6. f Vandervynct. 



1577. PRINCE OP OHATfGE ENTERS BRUSSELS. 1.S7 

played his ambition, and very imprudently attempted to put 
it in force. He at once demanded from the council of state 
the command of the troops and the disposal of the revenues. 
The answer v^as a simple reference to the Pacification of 
Ghent ; and the prince's rejoinder was an apparent submis- 
sion, and the immediate dispatch of letters in ciptier to the 
king-, demanding a supply of troops sufficient to restore his 
ruined autliority. These letters were intercepted by the 
king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France, who im- 
mediately transmitted them to the prince of Orange, his old 
friend and fellow-soldier. 

Public opinion, to the suspicions of which don John had 
been from the first obnoxious, was now unanimous in attri- 
buting to design all that was unconstitutional and unfair. His 
impetuous character could no longer submit to the restraint 
of dissimulation, and he resolved to take some bold and de- 
cided measure. A very favorable opportunity was presented 
in the arrival of the queen of Navarre, Marguerite of Valois, 
at Namur, on her way to Spa. The prince, numerously at- 
tended, hastened to the former town under pretence of paying" 
his respects to the queen. As soon as she left the place, he 
repaired to the glacis of the town, as if for the mere enjoy- 
ment of a walk, admired the external appearance of the cita- 
del, and expressed a desire to be admitted inside. The young- 
count of Berlaimont, in the absence of his father, the governor 
of the place, and an accomplice in the plot with don John, 
freely admitted him. The prince immediately drev/ forth a 
pistol, and exclaimed, that " that was the first moment of his 
government ;" took possession of the place with his imme- 
diate g-uard, and instantly formed them into a devoted gar- 
rison. 

The prince of Orange immediately made public the inter- 
cepted letters ; and, at the solicitation of the states-general, 
repaired to Brussels ; into which city he made a truly tri- 
umphant entry on the 23d of September, and was immediately 
nominated governor, protector or ruward of Brabant, — a dig- 
nity which had fallen into disuse, but was revived on this oc- 
casion, and which was little inferior in power to that of the 
dictators of Rome.* His authority, now almost unlimited, 
extended over every province of the Netherlands, except 
Namur and Luxembourg, both of which acknowledged don 
John. 

The first care of the liberated nation was to demolish the 
various citadels rendered celebrated and odious by the ex- 

* Vandervvnct. 



138 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1577 

cesses of the Spaniards. This was done with an enthusiastic: 
industry in which every age and sex bore a part, and which 
promised well for liberty. Among the ruins of that of Ant- 
werp the statue of the duke of Alva was discovered ; dragged 
through the filthiest streets of the town ; and, with all the 
indignity so well merited by the original, it was finally broken 
into a thousand pieces. 

The country, in conferring such extensive powers on the 
prince of Orange, had certainly gone too far, not for his de- 
sert, but for its own tranquillit}/". It was impossible that such 
an elevation should not excite the discontent and awaken the 
enmity of the haughty aristocracy of Flanders and Brabant ; 
and particularly of the house of Croi, the ancient rivals of 
that of Nassau. The then representative of that family 
seemed the person most suited to counterbalance William's 
excessive power. The duke of Arschot was therefore named 
governor of Flanders; and he immediately put himself at the 
head of a confederacy of the Catholic party, which quickly 
decided to ofier the chief government of the country, still in 
the name of Philip, to the archduke Mathias, brother of the 
emperor Rodolf II., and cousin-german to Philip of Spain, a 
youth but nineteen years of age. A Flemish gentleman 
named Maelsted was intrusted with the proposal. Mathias 
joyously consented ; and, quitting Vienna with the greatest 
secrecy, he arrived at Maestricht, without any previous an- 
nouncement, and expected only by the party that had invited 
him, at the end of October, 1577. 

The prince of Orange, instead of showing tjie least symp- 
tom of dissatisfaction at this underhand proceeding aimed at 
his personal authority, announced his perfect approval of the 
nomination, and was the foremost in recommending measures 
for the honor of the archduke and the security of the country. 
He drew up the basis of a treaty for Mathias's acceptance, 
on terms w^hich guarantied to the council of state and the 
states-general the virtual sovereignty, and left to the young 
prince little beyond the fine title which had dazzled his boy- 
ish vanity. The prince of Orange was appointed his lieu- 
tenant, in all the branches of the administration, civil, mili- 
tary, or financial; and the duke of Arschot, who had hoped to 
obtain an entire domination over the puppet he had brought 
upon the stage, saw himself totally foiled in his project, and 
left without a chance or a pretext for the least increase to his 
influence. 

But a still greater disappointment attended this ambitious 
nobleman m the very strong-hold of his power. The Flem- 
ings, driven by persecution to a state of fury almost unnatu- 



1577. RYIIOVE AND HE3IBYSE. 139 

ral, had, in their antipathy to Spain, adopted a liatred against 
Catholicism, which had its source only in political frenzy, 
while the converts imag'ined it to arise from reason and con- 
viction. Two men had taken advantag'e of this state of the 
public mind, and gained over it an unbounded ascendency. 
They were Francis de Kethulle lord of Ryhove, and John 
Hembyse, who each seemed formed to realize the beau-ideal 
of a factious demagogue. They had acquired supreme power 
over the people of Ghent, and had at their command a body 
of 20,000 resolute and well-armed supporters. The duke of 
Arschot vainly attempted to oppose his authority to that of 
these men ; and he on one occasion imprudently exclaimed, 
that " he would have them hanged, even though they were 
protected by the prince of Orange himself" The same night 
Ryhove summoned the leaders of his bands ; and quickly as- 
sembling a considerable force, they repaired to the duke's 
hotel, made him prisoner, and, without allowing him time to 
dress, carried him away in triumph. At the same time the 
bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs of Ghent and 
Courtrai, the governor of Oudenarde, and other important 
magistrates, were arrested — accused of complicity with the 
duke, but of what particular offence the lawless demagogues 
did not deign to specify. The two tribunes immediately di- 
vided the whole honors and authority of administration ; Ry- 
hove as military, and Hembyse as civil, chief 

The latter of these legislators completely changed the 
forms of the government ; he revived the ancient privileges 
destroyed by Charles V., and took all preliminary measures 
for forcing the various provinces to join with the city of 
Ghent in forming a federative republic. The states-general 
and the prince of Orange were alarmed, lest these troubles 
might lead to a renew^al of the anarchy from the effects of 
which the country had but just obtained breathing-time. 
Ryhove consented, at the remonstrance of the prince of 
Orange, to release the duke of Arschot ; but William was 
obliged to repair to Ghent in person, in the hope of establish- 
ing order. He arrived on the 29th of December, and entered 
on a strict inquiry with his usual calmness and decision. He 
could not succeed in obtaining the liberty of the other prison- 
ers, though he pleaded for them strongly. Having severely 
reprimanded the factious leaders, and pointed out the dangers 
of their illegal course, he returned to Brussels, leaving the 
factious city in a temporary tranquillity which his firmness 
and discretion could alone have obtained.* 

* Vandervynct. 



140 JIISTORY or THE NETHERLANDS. 1578. 

Tlie archduke Mathias, having visited Antwerp, and ac- 
ceded to all the conditions required of him, made his public 
entry into Brussels on the 18th of January, 1578, and was 
installed in his dignity of governor-general amidst the usual 
fetes and rejoicings. Don John of Austria was at the same 
time declared an enemy to the country, with a public order 
to quit it without delay ; and a prohibition was issued against 
any inhabitant acknowledging his forfeited authority. 

War was now once more openly declared ; some fruitless 
negotiations having afforded a fair pretext for hostilities. 
The rapid appearance of a numerous army under the orders 
of don John gave strength to the suspicions of his former 
dissimulation. It was currently believed that large bodies 
of the Spanish troops had remained concealed in the forests 
of Luxembourg and Lorraine; while several regiments, 
which had remained in France in the service of the League, 
immediately re-entered the Netherlands. Alexander Farnese 
prince of Parma, son of the former governant, came to the 
aid of his uncle don John at the head of a large force of 
Italians ; and these several reinforcements, with the German 
auxiliaries still in the country, composed an army of 20,000 
men.* The army of the states-general was still larger ; but 
far inferior in point of discipline. It was commanded by An- 
toine de Goignies, a gentleman of Hainault, and an old soldier 
of the school of Charles V. 

After a sharp afiair at the village of Riminants, in which 
the royalists had the worst, the two armies met at Gemblours, 
on the 31st of January, 1578; and the prince of Parma 
gained a complete victory, almost with his cavalry only, 
taking De Goignies prisoner, with the whole of his artillery 
and baggage.f The account of his victory is almost miracu- 
lous. The royalists, if we are to credit their most minute 
but not impartial historian, had only 1200 men engaged ; by 
whom 6000 were put to the sword, with the loss of but 
twelve men and little more than an hour's labor. | 

The news of this battle threw the states into the utmost 
consternation. Brussels being considered insecure, the arch- 
duke Mathias and his council retired to Antwerp ; but the 
victors did not feel their forces sufficient to justify an attack 
upon the capital. They, however, took Louvain, Tirlemont, 
and several other towns ; but these conquests were of little 
import in comparison with the loss of Amsterdam, which de- 
clared openly and unanimously for the patriot cause. Tne 
states-general recovered their courage, and prepared for a 

*Vandervynct. t Bentivoglio. | Strada. 



1578. DEATH OF DON JOHN. 141 

new contest. They sent deputies to the diet of^ Worms, to 
ask succor from the princes of the empire. The count pala- 
tine John Casimir repaired to their assistance with a consid- 
erable force of Germans and English, all equipped and paid 
by queen Elizabeth.* The duke of Alen9on, brother of 
Henry III. of France, hovered on the frontiers of Hainault 
with a respectable army ; and the cause of liberty seemed 
not quite desperate. 

But all the various chiefs had separate interests and oppo- 
site views ; while the fanatic violence of the people of Ghent 
sapped the foundations of the pacification to which the town 
had given its name. The Walloon provinces, deep-rooted 
in their attachment to religious bigotry, which they loved 
still better than political freedom, gradually withdrew from 
the common cause ; and without yet openly becoming recon- 
ciled with Spain, they adopted a neutrality which was tanta- 
mount to it. Don John was, however, deprived of all chance 
of reaping any advantage from these unfortunate dissensions. 
He was suddenly taken ill in his camp at Bougy ; and died, 
after a fortnight's suffering, on the 1st of October, 1578, in 
the 33d year of his age.f 

This unlooked-for close to a career which had been so 
brilliant, and to a life from which so much was yet to be ex- 
pected, makes us pause to consider for a moment the different 
opinions of his times and of history on the fate of a person- 
age so remarkable. The contemporary Flemish memoirs 
say that he died of the plague ; those of Spain call his dis- 
order the purple fever. The examination of his corpse 
caused an almost general belief that he was poisoned. " He 
lost his life," says one author, " with great suspicion of poi- 
son."! Another speaks of the suspicious state of his intes- 
tines, but without any direct opinion. § An English historian 
states the fact of his being poisoned, without any reserve. |1 
Flemish writers do not hesitate to attribute his murder to the 
jealousy of Philip II., who, they assert, had discovered a 
secret treaty of marriage about to be concluded between don 
John and Elizabeth of England, securing them the joint sov- 
ereignty of the Netherlands. IT An Italian historian of credit 
asserts that this ambitious design was attributed to the prince ; 
and admits that his death was not considered as having 



* Vandervynct. t Idem. 

I Acaho su vida, con gran sospecho de venc?!0.— Herrera. 
§ Cabrera. Il Hume. 

IT See Vandervynct. 



142 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1579 

arisen from natural causes.* It was also believed that Escc- 
vedo, his confidential secretary, being immediately called 
back to Spain, was secretly assassinated by Antonio Perez, 
Philip's celebrated minister, and by the special orders of the 
king. Time has, however, covered the affair with impene- 
trable mystery ; and the death of don John was of little im- 
portance to the affairs of the country he governed so briefly 
and so ingloriously, if it be not that it added another motive 
to the natural hatred for his assumed murderer. 

The prince of Parma, who now succeeded, by virtue of 
don John's testament, to the post of governor-general in the 
name of the king, remained intrenched in his camp. He ex- 
pected much from the disunion of his various opponents ; and 
what he foresaw, very quickly happened. The duke of Alen- 
con disbanded his troops and retired to France ; and the 
prince Palatine, following his example, withdrew to Germany, 
having first made an unsuccessful attempt to engage the 
queen of England as a principal in the confederacy. In this 
perplexity, the prince of Orange saw that the real hope for 
safety was in uniting still more closely the northern prov- 
inces of the union ; for he discovered the fallacy of reckoning 
on the cordial and persevering fidelity of the Walloons. He 
therefore convoked a new assembly at Utrecht ; and the de- 
puties of Holland, Guelders, Zealand, Utrecht, and Groningen, 
signed, on the 29th of January, 1579, the famous act called 
the Union of Utrecht, the real basis or fundamental pact of 
the republic of the United Provinces, It makes no formal 
renunciation of allegiance to Spain, but this is virtually done 
by the omission of the king's name. The twenty-six articles 
of this act consolidate the indissoluble connexion of the 
United Provinces ; each preserving its separate franchises, 
and following its own good pleasure on the subject of re- 
ligion. The towns of Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, and Ypres, 
soon afi:er acceded to and joined the union. 

The prince of Parma now assumed the offensive, and 
marched against Maestricht with his whole army. He took 
the place in the month of June, 1579, after a gallant resist- 
ance, and delivered it to sack and massacre for tiiree entire 
days. About the same time Mechlin and Bois-le-duc return- 
ed to their obedience to the king. Hembyse having renewed 
his attempts against the public peace at Ghent, the prince of 
Orange repaired to that place with speed; and having re- 
established order, and frightened the inveterate demagogue 



* " E quindi iiacque ropinione dispersa allora, ch'egli mancasse di morle 
aiulatf. pill tosto che iiat\irELlG.'"—Bcntiioglio. 



1580. SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN RENOUNCED. 143 

into secret flight, Flanders was once more restored to tran- 
quillity. 

An attempt was made this year at a reconciliation between 
the king and the states. The emperor Rodolf II. and pope 
Gregory XIII. offered their mediation; and on the 5th of 
April a congress assembled at Cologne, where a number of 
the most celebrated diplomatists in Europe were collected.* 
But it was early seen that no settlement would result from 
the apparently reciprocal wish for peace. One point, — that 
of religion, the main, and indeed the only one in debate, — 
was now maintained by Philip's ambassador in the same un- 
christian spirit, as if torrents of blood and millions of treasure 
had never been sacrificed in the cause. Philip was inflexible 
in his resolution never to concede the exercise of the reform- 
ed worship ; and after nearly a year of fruitless consultation, 
and the expenditure of immense sums of money, the congress 
separated on the 17th of November, without having effect- 
ed any thing. There were several other articles intended 
for discussion, had the main one been adjusted, on which 
Philip was fully as determined to make no concession ; but 
his obstinacy was not put to these new tests. 

The time had now arrived for the execution of the great 
and decisive step for independence, the means of effecting 
which had been so long the object of exertion and calculation 
on the part of the prince of Orange. He now resolved to as- 
semble the states of the- United Provinces, solemnly abjure 
the dominion of Spain, and depose king Philip from the sov- 
ereignty he had so justly forfeited. Much has been written 
both for and against this measure, which involved every ar- 
gument of natural rights and municipal privilege, Tte natu- 
ral rights of man may seem to comprise only those which he 
enjoys in a state of nature : but he carries several of those 
with him into society, which is based upon the very principle 
of their preservation. The great precedent which so many 
subsequent revolutions have acknowledged and confirmed, is 
that which we now record. The states-general assembled at 
Antwerp early in the year 1580 ; and, in spite of all the op- 
position of the Catholic deputies, the authority of Spain Vv^as 
revoked for ever, and the United Provinces declared a free 
and independent state. At the same time was debated the 
important question as to whether the protection of the new 
state should be offered to England or to France. Opinions 
were divided on this pomt ; but that of the prince of Orange 
being in favor of the latter country, from many motives of 



Vaiideivynct, 



144 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLA]\ Ub. 1580. 

sound policy, it was decided to offer the sovereignty to the 
duke of Alencon. The archduke Mathias, who was present 
at the deliberations, was treated with little ceremony ; but 
he obtained the promise of a pension when the finances were 
in a situation to afford it. The definite proposal to be made 
to the duke of Alen9on was not agreed upon for some months 
afterwards ; and it was in the month of August following 
that St. Aldegonde and other deputies waited on the duke at 
the chateau of Plessis-le-Tours, when he accepted the offered 
sovereignty on the proposed conditions, which set narrow 
bounds to his authority, and gave ample security to the 
United Provinces.* The articles were formally signed on 
the 29th day of September ; and the duke not only promised 
quickly to lead a numerous army to the Netherlands, but he 
obtained a letter from his brother Henry IIL, dated Decem- 
ber 26th, by which the king pledged himself to give further 
aid, as soon as he might succeed in quieting his own disturb- 
ed and unfortunate country. The states-general, assembled 
at Delft, ratified the treaty on the 30th of December ; and 
the year which was about to open seemed to promise the 
consolidation of freedom and internal peace. 



CHAP. xn. 

1580—1584. 

TO THE MURDER OF THE PRINCE OP ORANGE. 

Philip might be well excused the utmost violence of re- 
sentment on this occasion, had it been bounded by fair and 
honorable efforts for the maintenance of his authority. But 
every general principle seemed lost in the base inveteracy 
of private hatred. The ruin of the prince of Orange was his 
main object, and his industry and ingenuity were taxed to 
the utmost to procure his murder.f Existing documents 
prove that he first wished to accomplish this in such a way 
as that the responsibility and odium of the act might rest on 
the prince of Parma ; but the mind of the prince was at tha 
period too magnanimous to allow of a participation in the 
crime. The correspondence on the subject is preserved in 
the archives, and the date of Philip's first letter (30th of No- 
vem.ber, 1579,) proves that even before the final disavowal 

* Vandervynct. t D'Elwez, Hi&l- Gen. des Pays Bas. t. vi. p. 123. 



1580. EDICT AGAINST THE PKINCE OF OUAJNGE. 1 40 

of his authority by the United Provinces, he had ha;rbored 
his diabolical design. The prince remonstrated, but with no 
effect. It even appears that Philip's anxiety would not admit 
of the delay necessary for the prince's reply. The infamous 
edict of proscription ag-ainst William bears date the 15th of 
March ; and the most pressing letters commanded the prince 
of Parma to make it public. It was not, however, till the 
15th of June that he sent forth the fatal ban. 

This edict, under Philip's ov/n signature, is a tissue of in- 
vective and virulence. The illustrious object of its abuse is 
accused of having engaged the heretics to profane the churches 
and break the images ; of having persecuted and massacred 
the Catholic priests; of hypocrisy, tyranny, and perjury; and, 
as the height of atrocity, of having introduced liberty of 
conscience into his country ! For these causes, and many 
others, the king declares him " proscribed and banished as a 
public pest ;" and it is permitted to all persons to assail him 
" in his fortune, person, and life, as an enemy to human na- 
ture." Philip also, " for the recompense of virtue and the 
punishment of crime," promises to v/hoever will deliver up 
William of Nassau, dead or alive, " in lands or money, at his 
choice, the sum of 25,000 golden crowns ; to grant a free 
pardon to such person for all former offences of what kind 
soever, and to invest him with letters patent of nobility." 

In reply to this brutal document of human depravity, Wil- 
liam published all over Europe his famous " Apology ;" of 
which it is enough to say, that language could not produce a 
more splendid refutation of every charge, or a more terrible 
recrimination against the guilty tyrant. It was attributed, to 
the pen of Peter de Villiers, a Protestant minister. It is 
universally pronounced one of the noblest monuments of 
history.* William, from the hour of his proscription, became 
at once the equal in worldly station, as he had ever been the 
superior in moral worth, of his royal calumniator. He took 
his place as a prince of an imperial family, not less ancient 
or illustrious than that of the house of Austria ; and he stood 
forward at the supreme tribunal of public feeling and opinion 
as the accuser of a king who disgraced his lineage and his 
throne. 

By a separate article in the treaty with the states, the duke 
of Alencon secured to William the sovereignty of Holland 
and Zealand, as well as the lordship of Friegland, w^ith his 
title of stadtholder, retaining to the duke his claim on the 
prince's faith and homage.f The exact nature of William's 



•j Metevtn 

10 



14G HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 16^1 

authority was finally ratified on the 24th of July, 1581 ; on 
which day he took the prescrihed oath, and entered on the 
exercise of his well-earned rights. 

Philip now formed the design of sending back the duchess 
of Parma to resume her former situation as governant, and 
exercise the authority conjointly vv^ith her son. But the latter 
positively declined this proposal of divided power ; and he, 
consequently, was left alone to its entire exercise. Military 
afiairs made but slow progress this year. The most remark- 
able event was the capture of La None, a native of Bretagne, 
one of the bravest, and certainly the cleverest, officers in the 
service of the states, into which he had passed after having 
given important aid to the Huguenots of France. He was 
considered so important a prize, that Philip refused all pro- 
posals for his exchange, and detained him in the castle of 
Limbourg for five years. 

The siege of Cambray was now undertaken by the prince 
of Parma in person ; while the duke of Alencon, at the head 
of a large army, and the flower of the French nobility, ad- 
vanced to its relief, and soon forced his rival to raise the 
siege. The new sovereign of the Netherlands entered the 
town, and was received with tumultuous joy by the half- 
starved citizens and garrison. The prince of Parma sought 
an equivalent for this check m the attack of Tournay, which 
he immediately afterwards invested. The town was but feebly 
garrisoned ; but the Protestant inhabitants prepared for a des- 
perate defence, under the exciting example of the princess 
of Epinoi, wife of the governor, who was himself absent. 
This remarkable woman furnishes another proof of the fe- 
male heroism which abounded in these wars. Though 
wounded in the arm, she fought in the breach sword m hand, 
braving peril and death. And when at length it was impos- 
sible to hold out longer, she obtained an honorable capitula- 
tion, and marched out, on the 29th of November, on horse- 
back, at the head of the garrison, with an air of triumph 
rather than of defeat. 

The duke of Alencon, now created duke of Anjou, by which 
title we shall hereafter distinguish him, had repaired to Eng- 
land, in hopes of completing his project of marriage with Eliz- 
abeth. After three months of almost confident expectation, 
the virgin queen, at this time fifty years of age, with a ca- 
price not quite justifiable, broke all her former engagements ; 
and, happily for herself and her country, declined the mar- 
riage. Anjou burst out into all the violence of his turbulent 
temper, and set sail for the Netherlands.* Elizabeth made 

* Pamden, p. 4H(i. 



1582. ATTEMPT TO MUEDEK WILLIAM. 147 

all the reparation in her power, by the honors paid him on hia 
dismissal. She accompanied him as far as Canterbury, and 
sent liim away under the convoy of the earl of Leicester, her 
chief favorite ; and with a brilliant suite and a fleet of fifteen 
sail. Anjou was received at Antwerp with equal distinction ; 
and was inaugurated there on the 19th of February as duke 
of Brabant, Lothier, Limbourg, and Guelders, with many 
other titles, of which he soon proved himself unworthy. When 
the prince of Orange, at the ceremony, placed the ducal 
mantle on his shoulders, Anjou said to him, "Fasten it so 
well, prince, that they cannot take it off again !" 

During the rejoicings which followed this inauspicious 
ceremony, Philip's proscription against the prince of Orange 
put forth its first fruits. The latter gave a grand dinner in 
the chateau of Antwerp, Avhich he occupied, on the 18th of 
March, the birth-day of the duke of Anjou ; and, as he was 
quitting the dining-room, on his way to his private chamber, 
a young man stepped forward and offered a pretended peti- 
tion, William being- at all times of easy access for such an 
object. While he read the paper, the treacherous suppliant 
discharged a pistol at his head : the ball struck him under the 
left ear, and passed out at the right cheek. As he tottered 
and fell, the assassin drew a poniard to add suicide to the 
crime, but he was instantly put to death by the attendant 
guards. The young count Maurice, William's g ecoiK^ son, 
examined the murderer's body ; and the papers found on him, 
and subsequent inquiries, told fully who and what he was. 
His name was John Jaureguay, his age twenty-three years ; 
he was a native of Biscay, and clerk to a Spanish merchant 
of Antwerp, called Gaspar Anastro. This man had instigated 
him to the crime ; having received a promise signed by king- 
Philip, engaging to give him 28,000 ducats and other advan- 
tages, if he would undertake to assassmate the prince of 
Orange.* The inducements held out by Anastro to his simple 
dupe, were backed strongly by the persuasions of Antony 
Timmerman, a Dominican monk ; and by Venero, Anastro's 
cashier, who had from fear declined becoming himself the 
murderer. Jaureguay had duly heard mass, and received the 
sacrament, before executing his attempt ; and in his pockets 
were found a catechism of the Jesuits, with tablets filled with 
prayers in the Spanish language ; one in particular being ad- 
dressed to the angel Gabriel, imploring his intercession with 
God and the Virgin, to aid him in the consummation of his 
object. Other accompanying absurdities seem to pronounce 

* Meteren, De Thou, &c. 



148 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1582 

this miserable wretch to be as much an instrument in the 
hands of others as the weapon of his crime was in his own. 
Timmerman and Venero made a full avowal of their crimi- 
nality, and suffered death in the usual barbarous manner of 
the times. The Jesuits, some years afterwards, solemnly 
gathered the remains of these three pretended martyrs, and 
exposed them as holy relics for public veneration.* Anastro 
affected his escape. 

The alarm and indignation of the people of Antwerp knew 
no bounds. Their suspicions at first fell on the duke of An- 
ion and the French party ; but the truth was soon discovered ; 
md the rapid recovery of the prince of Orange from his des- 
perate wound, set every thing once more to rights. But a 
premature report of his death flew rapidly abroad ; and he 
had anticipated proofs of his importance in the eyes of all 
Europe, in the frantic delight of the base, and the deep afflic- 
tion of the good. Within three months, William was able to 
accompany the duke of Anjou in his visits to Ghent, Bruges, 
and the other chief towns of Flanders ; in each of which the 
ceremony of inauguration was repeated. Several military 
exploits now took place, and various towns fell into the hands 
of the opposing parties ; changing masters with a rapidity, 
as well as a previous endurance of suffering, that must have 
carried confusion and change on the contending principles of 
allegiance into the hearts and heads of the harassed inhab- 
itants. 

The duke of Anjou, intemperate, inconstant, and unprin- 
cipled, saw that his authority was but the shadow of power, 
compared to the deep-fixed practices of despotism which 
governed the other nations of Europe. The French officers, 
who formed his suite and possessed all his confidence, had no 
difficulty in raising his discontent into treason against the 
people with whom he had made a solemn compact. The re- 
sult of their councils was a deep-laid plot against Flemish 
liberty ; and its execution was ere-long attempted. He sent 
secret orders to the governors of Dunkirk, Bruges, Termonde, 
and other towns, to seize on and hold them in his name ; re- 
serving for himself the infamy of the enterprise against Ant- 
werp. To prepare for its execution, he caused his numerous 
army of French and Swiss to approach the city; and they 
were encamped in the neighborhood, at a place called Bor- 
gerhout. 

On the 17th of January, 1583, the duke dined somewhat 
earlier than usual, under the pretext of proceeding afler- 

* D^Ewez. 



1583. ATTEMPT AtiAlNST ANTWEKJP. 1 49 

wards to review his •army in their camp. He set out at iiooii, 
accompanied by his guard of 200 horse ; and when he reached 
the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the precon- 
certed signal for an attack on the Flemish guard, by pretend- 
ing that he had fallen and broken his leg. The duke called 
out to his followers, " Courage, courage ! the town is ours !" 
The guard at the gate was all soon dispatched ; and tlie 
French troops, which waited outside to the number of 3000, 
rushed quickly in, furiously shouting the war-cry, " Town 
taken ! town taken ! kill ! kill !" The astonished but intrepid 
citizens, recovering from their confusion, instantly flew to 
arms. All differences in religion or politics were forgotten 
in the common danger to their freedom. Catholics and Pro- 
testants, men and women, ruslied alike to the conflict. The 
ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate all. Workmen, 
armed with the instruments of their various trades, started 
from their shops and flung themselves upon the enemy, A 
baker sprang from the celler where he was kneading his 
dough, and with his oven shovel struck a French dragoon to 
the ground. Those who had fire-arms, after expending their 
bullets, took from their pouches and pockets pieces ofmoney, 
which they bent between their teeth, and used for charging 
their a.rquebusses. The French were driven successively 
from the streets and ramparts, and the cannons planted on 
the latter were immediately turned against the reinforce- 
ments which attempted to enter the town. The French were 
everywhere beaten ; the duke of Anjou saved himself by 
flight, and reached Termonde, after the perilous necessity of 
passing through a large tract of inundated country. His loss 
in this base enterprise amounded to 1500 ; Vv^hile that of the 
citizens did not exceed eighty men.* The attempts simul- 
taneously made on the other towns succeeded at Dunkirk and 
Termonde ; but all the others failed. 

The character of the prince of Orange never appeared so 
thoroughly great as at this crisis. With wisdom and mag- 
nanimity rarely equalled and never surpassed, he threw him- 
self and his authority between the indignation of the country 
and the guilt of Anjou ; saving the former from excess, and 
the latter from execration. The disgraced and discomfited 
duke proffered to the states excuses as mean as they were 
hypocritical; and his brother, the king of France, sent a 
special envoy to intercede for him. But it was the influence 
of William that screened the culprit from public reprobation 
and ruin, and regained for liim the place and power which he 



150 HISTORY OF THE NETHElJLxVKDS. 15S4. 

might easily have secured for himself, had he not prized the 
welfare of his country far above all objects of private advan- 
tage. A new treaty was negotiated, confirming Anjou in his 
former station, with renewed security against any future 
treachery on his part. He in the mean time retired to 
France, to let the public indignation subside ; but before he 
could assume sufficient confidence again to face the country 
he had so basely injured, his worthless existence was sud- 
denly terminated, some thought by poison, — the common solu- 
tion of all such doubtful questions in those days, — in the 
month of June in the followmg year. He expired in his 
twenty-ninth year. 

A disgusting proof of public ingratitude and want of judg- 
ment was previously furnished by the conduct of the people 
of Antwerp against him who had been so often their deliverer 
from such various dangers. Unable to comprehend the great- 
ness of his mind, they openly accused the prince of Orange 
of having joined with the French for their subjugation, and 
of having concealed a body of that detested nation in the 
citadel. The populace rushed to the place, and having 
minutely examined it, were convinced of their own absurdity 
and the prince's innocence. He scorned to demand their 
punishment for such an outrageous calumny ; but he w^as not 
the less afflicted at it.* He took the resolution of quitting 
Flanders, as it turned out, for ever ; and he retired into Zea- 
land, where he was better known and consequently better 
trusted. 

In the midst of the consequent confusion in the former of 
these provinces, the prince of Parma, with indefatigable 
vigor, made himself master of town after town ; and turned 
his particular attention to the creation of a naval force, which 
was greatly favored by the possession of Dunkirk, Nieuport, 
and Gravelines. Native treachery was not idle in this time 
of tumult and confusion. The count of Renneberg, governor 
of Friesland and Groningen, had set the basest example, and 
gone over to the Spaniards. The prince of Chimay, son of 
the duke of Arschot, and governor of Bruges, yielded to the 
persuasions of his father, and gave up the place to the prince 
of Parma. Hembyse also, amply confirming the bad opinion 
in which the prince of Orange always held him, returned to 
Ghent, where he regained a great portion of his former in- 
fluence, and immediately commenced a correspondence with 
the prince of Parma, offering to deliver up both Ghent and 
Termonde. An attempt was consequently made by the 

* D'Ewez. 



1584. ATILLIAM OF NASSAU. 151 

Spaniards to surprise the former town ; but the citizens v\^ere 
prepared for this, having- intercepted some of the letters o. 
Hembyse ; and the traitor was seized, tried, condemned, and 
executed on the 4th of August, 1584. He was upwards of 
seventy years of age.* Ryhove, his celebrated colleague, 
died in Holland some years later. 

But the fate of so insignificant a person as Hembyse passed 
almost unnoticed, in the agitation caused by an event which 
shortly preceded his death. 

From the moment of their abandonment by the duke of 
Anjou, the United Provinces considered themselves indepen- 
dent; and although they consented to renew his authority 
over the country at la.rge, at the solicitation of the prince of 
Orange, they were resolved to confirm the influence of the 
latter over their particular interests, which they were now 
sensible could acquire stability only by that means.f The 
death of Anjou left them without a sovereign ; and they did 
not hesitate in the choice which they Vv^ere now called upon 
to make. On whom, indeed, could they fix but William of 
Nassau, without the utmost injustice to him, and the deepest 
injury to themselves] To whom could they turn, in prefer- 
ence to him who had given consistency to the early explosion 
of their despair ; to him who first gave the country political 
existence, then nursed it into freedom, and now beheld it in the 
vigor and prime of independence '? He had seen the necessity, 
but certainly over-rated the value, of foreign support, to 
enable the new state to cope with the tremendous tyranny 
from which it had broken. He had tried successively Ger- 
many, England, and France. From the first and the last 
of these powers he had received two governors, to whom he 
cheerfully resigned the title. The incapacity of both, and 
the treachery of the latter, proved to the states that their 
only chance for safety was in the consolidation of William's 
authority ; and they contemplated the noblest reward which 
a grateful nation could bestow on a glorious liberator. Ar.d 
is it to be believed, that he who for twenty years had sacri- 
ficed his repose, lavished his fortune, and risked his life, for 
the public cause, now aimed at absolute dominion, or coveted 
a despotism which all his actions prove him to have abhorred 1 
Defeated bigotry has put forward such vapid accusations. He 
has been also held responsible for the early cruelties which, 
it is notorious, he used every means to avert, and frequently 
punished. But while these revolting acts can only be viewed 
in the light of reprisals against the bloodiest persecution that 

* VandPi-vynct. t Meteren. 



J~>i HlSTOllY OF THK NETHERLANDS. 15^4. 

ever existed, by exasperated men driven to vengeance by a 
bad example, not one single act of cruelty or bad faith has 
ever been made good against William, who may be safely 
pronounced one of the wisest and best men that history has 
lield up as examples to the species. 

The authority of one author has been produced to prove 
that, during the lifetime of his brother Louis, offers were 
made to him by France, of the sovereignty of the northern 
provinces, on condition of the southern being joined to the 
French crown.* That he ever accepted those offers is without 
proof: that he never acted on them is certain. But he might 
have been justified in purchasing freedom for those states 
which had so well earned it, at the price even of a qualified 
independence under another power, to the exclusion of those 
which had never heartily struggled against Spain. The best 
evidence, however, of William's real views is to be found in 
the Capitulation, as it is called ; that is to say, the act which 
was on the point of being executed between him and the states, 
w^hen a base fanatic, instigated by a bloody tyrant, put a pe- 
riod to his splendid career. This capitulation exists at full 
length,! but was never formally executed. Its conditions are 
founded on the same principles, and conceived in nearly the 
same terms, as those accepted by the duke of Anjou; and the 
whole compact is one of the most thoroughly liberal that his- 
tory has on record. The prince repaired to Delft for the 
ceremony of his inauguration, the price of his long labors; but 
there, instead of anticipated dignity, he met the sudden stroke 
of death.J 

On the 10th of July, as he left his dining-room, and while 
he placed his foot on the first step of the great stair leading 
to the upper apartments of his house, a man named Balthazar 
Gerard, (who, like the former assassin, waited for him at the 
moment of convivial relaxation,) discharged a pistol at his 
body : three balls entered it. He fell into the arms of an at- 
tendant, and cried out faintly, in the French language, " God 
pity me ! I am sadly wounded — God have mercy on my soul, 
and on this unfortunate nation !" His sister, the countess of 
Swartzenberg, who now hastened to his side, asked him in 
German, if he did not recommend his soul to God 1 He an- 
swered, " Yes," in the same language, but with a feeble 
voice. He was carried into the dining-room, where he imme- 
diately expired. His sister closed his eyes :§ his wife, too, 
was on the spot, — Louisa, daughter of the illustrious Coligny, 

* Amelot de la Houssaye. f Bor. liv. 15. p. 203. 

% Grotius. § La Pise, Hist, des Princes d'Orange. 



1584. CHAIJACTEK OF WILLIAM. 153 

and widow of the gnllant count of Teligny, l)otli of whom 
were also murdered almost in her sight, in the frightful mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew. We may not enter on a descrip- 
tion of the afflicting scene which followed : but the mind is 
pleased in picturing the bold solemnity with which prince 
Maurice, then eighteen years of age, swore — not vengeance 
or hatred against his father's murderers — ^but that he would 
faithfully and religiously follow the glorious example he had 
given him.* 

There is but one important feature in the character of Wil- 
liam which we have hitherto left untouched, but which the 
circumstances of his death seemed to sanctify, and point out 
for record in the same page with it. We mean his religious 
opinions ; and we shall dispatch a subject which is, in regard 
to all men, so delicate, indeed so sacred, in a few words. He 
was born a Lutheran. When he arrived, a boy, at the court 
of Charles V., he was initiated into the Catholic creed, in 
which he was thenceforward brought up. Afterwards, when 
he could think for himself and choose his profession of faith, 
he embraced the doctrine of Calvin. His whole public con- 
duct seems to prove that he viewed sectarian principles chiefly 
in the light of political instruments ; and that, himself a con 
scientious Christian, in the broad sense of the term, he was 
deeply imbued with the spirit of universal toleration, and con- 
sidered the various shades of belief as subservient to the one 
grand principle of civil and religious liberty, for which he had 
long devoted and at length laid down his life. His assassin 
was taken alive, and four days afterwards executed with ter- 
rible circumstances of cruelty, which he bore as a martyr 
might have borne them.f He was a native of Burgundy, and 
had for some months lingered near his victim, and insinuated 
himself into his confidence by a feigned attachment to liberty, 
and an apparent zeal for the reformed faith. He was never- 
theless a bigoted Catholic ; and, by his own confession, he had 
communicated his design to, and received encouragement to 

* Whoever would really enjoy the spirit of historical details should never 
omit an opportunity of seeing places rendered memorable by associations 
connected with the deeds, and especially with the death, of great men; 
the spot, for instance, where William was assassinated at Delft: the old 
staircase he was just on the point of ascending; the narrow pass between 
that and the dining-hall whence he came out, of scarcely sufficient extent 
for the murderer to hold forth his arm and his pistol, 2h feet long. This 
weapon, and its fellow, are both preserved in the museum of the Hague, 
together with two of the fatal bullets, and the very clothes which the victim 
wore. The leathern doublet, pierced by the balls and burned by the powder, 
lies beside the other parts of the dress, the simple gravity of which, in 
fashion and color, irresistibly brings the wise, great man before us, and adds 
a hundred-fold to the interest excited by, a recital of his murder. 

t Le Petit, Histoire des Pays Bas. 



154 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1584. 

its execution from, more than one minister of the sect to 
which he belonged. But his avowal criminated a more im- 
portant accomplice, and one whose character stands so high 
in history, that it behoves us to examine thoroughly the truth 
of the accusation, and the nature of the collateral proofs by 
which it is supported. Most writers on this question have 
leaned to the side which all would wish to adopt, for the honor 
of human nature and the integrity of a celebrated name. But 
an original letter exists in the archives of Brussels, from the 
prince of Parma himself to Philip of Spain, in which he ad- 
mits that Balthazar Gerard had communicated to him his in- 
tention of murdering the prince of Orange, some months be- 
fore the deed was done ; and he mixes phrases of compassion 
for " the poor man" (the murderer) and of praise for the act ; 
which, if the document be really authentic, sinks Alexander 
of Parma as low as the wretch with whom he sympathized.* 



CHAP. xm. 

1584—1592. 

TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER PRmCE OF PARMA. 

The death of William of Nassau not only closes the scene 
of his individual career, but throws a deep gloom over the 
history of a revolution that was sealed by so great a sacrifice. 
The animation of the story seems suspended. Its events lose 
for a time their excitement. The last act of the political 
drama is performed. The great hero of the tragedy is no 
more. The other most memorable actors have one by one 
passed away. A whole generation has fallen in the contest ; 
and it is with exhausted interest, and feelings less intense, 
that we resume the details of war and blood, which seem no 
longer sanctified by the grander movements of heroism. The 
stirring impulse of slavery breaking its chains yields to the 
colder inspiration of independence maintaining its rights. 
The men we have" now to depict were born free ; and the 
deeds they did were those of stern resolve rather than of 
frantic despair. The present picture may be as instructive 
as the last, but it is less thrilling. Passion gives place to 
reason ; and that which wore the air of fierce romance is su- 
perseded by what bears the stamp of calm reality. 

* Pee on this subject D'Ewez, Hist.. Gen. de la Belgique, t. vi. p. 197, &c. 



1585. MISESIES OF THE COUINTRY. 155 

The consternation caused by the news of William's death 
soon yielded to the firmness natural to a people inured to 
suffering and calamity. The United Provinces rejected at 
once the overtures made by the prince of Parma to induce 
them to obedience. They seemed proud to show that their 
fate did not depend on that of one man. He therefore turned 
his attention to the most effective means of obtaining results 
by force, which he found it impossible to secure by persua- 
sion. He proceeded vigorously to the reduction of the chief 
towns of Flanders, the conquest of which would give him 
possession of the entire province, no army now remaining' to 
oppose him in the field. He soon obliged Ypres and Ter- 
monde to surrender ; and Ghent, forced by famine, at length 
yielded on reasonable terms. The most severe was the utter 
abolition of the reformed religion ; by which a large portion 
of the population v/as driven to the alternative of exile ; and 
they passed over in crowds to Holland and Zealand, not half 
of the inhabitants remaining behind. Mechlin, and finally 
Brussels, worn out by a fruitless resistance, followed the ex- 
ample of the rest ; and thus, within a year after the death 
of William of Nassau, the power of Spain was again estab- 
lished in the whole province of Flanders, and the others 
which comprise what is in modern days generally denomi- 
nated Belgium. 

But these domestic victories of the prince of Parma were 
barren in any of those results which humanity would love to 
see in the train of conquest. The reconciled provinces pre- 
sented the most deplorable spectacle. The chief towns 
were almost depopulated. The inhabitants had in a great 
measure fallen victims to war, pestilence, and famine. Little 
inducement existed to replace by marriage the ravages 
caused by death, for few men wished to propagate a race 
which divine wrath seemed to have marked for persecution. 
The thousands of villages which had covered the face of the 
country were absolutely abandoned to the wolves, which had 
so rapidly increased, that they attacked not merely cattle and 
children, but grown-up persons. The dogs, driven abroad by 
hunger, had become as ferocious as other beasts of prey, and 
joined in large packs to hunt down brutes and men. Neither 
fields, nor woods, nor roads, were now to be distinguished by 
any visible limits. All was an entangled mass of trees, 
weeds, and grass. The prices of the necessaries of life were 
so high, that people of rank, after selling every thing to buy 
bread, were obliged to have recourse to open beggary in the 
streets of the great towns. 

From this frightful picture, and the numerous detail? which 



156 nii-TOJRY OF THE NETHERLAINDS. ]5S"3. 

imagination may readily supply, we gladly turn to tlie con- 
trast afforded by the northern states. Those we have just 
described have a feeble hold upon our sym.pathies ; we can- 
not pronounce their sufferings to be unmerited. The want 
of firmness or enlightment, which preferred such an existence 
to the risk of entire destruction, only heightens the glory of 
the people whose unyielding energy and courage gained them 
so proud a place among the independent nations of Europe. 

The murder of William seemed to carry to the United 
Provinces conviction of the weakness as well as the atrocity 
of Spain ; and the indecent joy excited among the royalists 
added to their courage. An immediate council was created, 
composed of eighteen members, at the head of which was 
unanimously placed prince Maurice of Nassau (who even 
then gave striking indications of talent and prudence) ; his 
elder brother, the count of Beuren, now prince of Orange, 
being still kept captive in Spain. Count Hohenloe was ap- 
pointed lieutenant-general ; and several other measures were 
promptly adopted to consolidate the power of the infant re- 
public. The whole of its forces amounted but to 5500 men. 
The prince of Parma had 80,000 at his command.* With 
such means of carrying on his conquests, he sat down regu- 
larly before Antwerp, and commenced the operations of one 
of the most celebrated among the many memorable sieges 
of those times. He completely surrounded the city with 
troops ; placing a large portion of his army on the left bank 
of the Scheldt, the other on the right ; and causing to be at- 
tacked at the same time the two strong forts of Liefkinshoek 
and Lillo. Repulsed on the latter important point, his only 
hope of gaining the command of the navigation of the river, 
on which the success of the siege depended, was by throwing 
a bridge across the stream. Neither its great rapidity, nor 
its immense width, nor the want of wood and workmen, 
could deter him from this vast undertaking. He was assist- 
ed, if not guided, in all his projects on the occasion, by Bar- 
roccio, a celebrated Italian engineer sent to him by Philip ; 
and the merit of all that was done ought fairly to be, at least, 
divided between the general and the engineer. If enterprise 
and perseverance belonged to the first, science and skill were 
the portion of the latter. They first caused two strong forts 
to be erected at opposite sides of the river ; and adding to 
their resources by every possible means, they threw forward 
a pier on each side of, and far into, the stream. The stakes, 
driven firmly into the bed of the river and cemented with 

* Hooft. 



1585. SIEGE OF ANTWERP. 157 

masses of earth and stones, were at a proper height covered 
vith planks and defended by parapets. These estoccades, as 
they were called, reduced the river to half its original breadth ; 
and the cannon with which they were mounted rendered the 
passage extremely dangerous to hostile vessels. But, to fill 
up this strait, a considerable number of boats were fastened 
together by chain-hooks and anchors ; and being manned and 
armed with cannon, they were moored in the interval be- 
tween the estoccades. During these operations, a canal was 
cut between the Moer and Calloo ; by which means a com- 
munication was formed with Ghent, which insured a supply 
of ammunition and provisions. The works of the bridge, 
which was 2400 feet in length, were constructed with such 
strength and solidity, that they braved the v/inds, the floods, 
and the ice of the whole v/inter. 

The people of Antwerp at first laughed to scorn the whole 
of these stupendous preparations : but when they found that 
the bridge resisted the natural elements, by which they 
doubted not it would have been destroyed, they began to 
tremble in the anticipation of fam.ine ; yet they vigorously 
prepared for their defence, and rejected the overtures made 
by the prince of Parma even at this advanced stage of his 
proceedings. Ninety-seven pieces of cannon now defended 
the bridge ; besides which, thirty large barges at each side 
of the river guarded its extremitijes ; and forty ships of war 
formed a fleet of protection, constantly ready to meet any 
attack from the besieged. They, seeing the Scheldt thus 
really closed up, and all communication with Zealand impos- 
sible, felt their whole safety to depend on the destruction of 
the bridge. The states of Zealand now sent forward an ex- 
pedition, which, joined with some ships from Lillo, gave new 
courage to the besieged ; and every thing was prepared for 
their great attempt. An Italian engineer named Giambelli 
was at this time in Antwerp, and by his talents had long pro- 
tracted the defence. He has the chief merit of being the 
inventor of those terrible fire-ships which gained the title of 
" infernal machines ;" and with some of these formidable in- 
struments and the Zealand fleet, the long-projected attack 
was at length made. 

Early on the night of the 4th of April, the prince of Parma 
and his army were amazed by the spectacle of three huge 
masses of fiame floating down the river, accompanied by 
numerous lesser appearances of a similar kind, and bearing 
directly against the prodigious barrier, which had cost months 
of labor to hun and his troops, and immense sums of money 
fo the state. The whole surface of the Scheldt presented 



158 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1585. 

one sheet of fire ; the country all round was as visible as at 
noon ; the flags, the arms of the soldiers, and every object on 
the bridge, in the fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to view ; 
and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased effect to 
the marked distinctness of all. Astonishment was soon suc- 
ceeded by consternation, when one of the three machines 
burst with a terrific noise before they reached their intended 
mark, but time enough to offer a sample of their nature. The 
prince of Parma, with numerous officers and soldiers rushed 
to the bridge, to witness the effects of this explosion ; and 
just then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst 
through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the 
estoccades. Alexander, unmindful of danger, used every ex- 
ertion of his authority to stimulate the sailors in their at- 
tempts to clear away the monstrous machine which threaten 
ed destruction to all within its reach. Happily for him, an 
ensign who was near, forgetting in his general's peril all 
rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced him 
from the estoccade. He had not put his foot on the river 
bank when the machine blew up. The effects were such as 
really baffle description. The bridge was burst through ; the 
estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and, with all that 
it supported, — men, cannon, and the huge machinery em- 
ployed in the various works, — dispersed in the air. The 
cruel marquis of Roubais, many other officers, and 800 sol- 
diers, perished, in all varieties of death — by flood, or flame, 
or the horrid wounds from the missiles with which the terri- 
ble machine was overcharged. Fragments of bodies and 
limbs were flung far and wide ; and many gallant soldiers 
were destroyed, without a vestige of the human form being 
left to prove that they had ever existed. The river, forced 
from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts and drowned 
numbers of their garrisons; while the ground far beyond 
shook as in an earthquake.* The prince was struck down by 
by a beam, and lay for some time senseless, together with 
two generals, Delvasto and Gajitani, both more seriously 
wounded than he ; and many of the soldiers were burned and 
mutilated in the most frightful manner. Alexander soon re- 
covered ; and by his presence of mind, humanity, and resolu- 
tion, he endeavored with incredible quickness to repair th 
mischief, and raised the confidence of his army as high a 
ever. Had the Zealand fleet come in time to the spot, the 
whole plan might have been crowned with success ; but by 

♦ Bentivoglio, Schiller, Vandervynct, and Strada, 



1585. THE STi^TES OBTAIN AID FROM ENGLAND. 159 

some want of concert, or accidental delay, it did not appear ; 
and consequently the beleaguered town received no relief. 

One last resource was left to the besieged ; that which had 
formerly been resorted to at Leyden, -and by which the place 
was saved. To enable them to inundate the immense plain 
which stretched between Lillo and Strabrock up to the walls 
of Antwerp, it was necessary to cut through the dike which 
defended it against the irruptions of the eastern Scheldt, 
This plain was traversed by a high and wide counter-dike, 
called the dike of Couvestien ; and Alexander, knowing its 
importance, had early taken possession of and strongly de- 
fended it by several forts. Two attacks were made by the 
garrison of Antwerp on this important construction ; the lat- 
ter of which led to one of the most desperate encounters of 
the war. The prince, seeing that on the results of this day 
depended the whole consequences of his labors, fought with 
a valor that even he had never before displayed, and he was 
finally victorious. The confederates were forced to abandon 
the attack, leaving 3000 dead upon the dike or at its base ; 
and the Spaniards lost full 800 men. 

One more fruitless attempt was made to destroy the bridge 
and raise the siege, by means of an enormous vessel bearing' 
the presumptuous title of The End of the War. But this 
floating cita.del ran aground, without producing any effect ; 
and the gallant governor of Antwerp, the celebrated Philip 
de Saint Aldegonde, was forced to capitulate on the 16th of 
August, after a siege of fourteen months. The reduction of 
x\ntwerp was considered a miracle of perseverance and cour- 
age. The prince of Parma was elevated by his success to 
tiie highest pinnacle of renown ; and Philip, on receiving the 
news, displayed a burst of joy such as rarely varied his cold 
and gloomy reserve. 

Even while the fate of Antwerp was undecided, the Uhited 
Provinces, seeing that they were still too weak to resist alone 
the undivided force of the Spanish monarchy, had opened ne- 
gotiations with France and England at once, in the hope of 
gaining one or the other for an ally and protector. Henry 
ni. gave a most honorable reception to the ambassadors sent 
to his court, and was evidently disposed to accept their offers, 
had not the distracted state of his own country, still torn by 
civil war, quite disabled him from any effective co-operation. 
The deputies sent to England Avere also well received. Eliza- 
beth listened to the proposals of the states, sent them an am- 
bassador in return, and held out the most flattering hopes of 
succor. But her cautious policy would not suffer her to ac- 
cept the sovereignty ; and she declared that she would in no 



160 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1586. 

ways interfere with the negotiations, which might end in its 
being accepted by the king of France.* She gave prompt 
evidence of her sincerity by an advance of considerable sums 
of money, and by sending to Holland a body of 6000 troops, 
under the command of her favorite, Robert Dudley earl of 
Leicester ; and as security for the repayment of her loan, the 
towns of Flushing and Brille, and the castle of Rammekins, ' 
were given up to her.f 

The earl of Leicester v/as accompanied by a splendid reti- 
nue of noblemen, and a select troop of 500 followers. He was 
received at Flushing by the governor, Sir Philip Sidney, his 
nephew, the model of manners and conduct for the young 
men of his day. But Leicester possessed neither courage nor 
capacity equal to the trust reposed in him ; and his arbitrary 
and indolent conduct soon disgusted the people whom he was 
sent to assist.! They had, in the first impulse of their grati- 
tude, given him the title of governor and captain-general of 
the provinces, in the hope of flattering Elizaheth. But this 
had a far contrary effect : she was equally displeased with 
the states and with Leicester; and it was with difficulty 
that, after many hum.ble submissions, they were able to ap- 
pease her. 5 

To form a counterpoise to the power so lavishly conferred 
on Leicester, prince Maurice Vv'-as, according to the wise ad- 
vice of Olden Barnevelt, raised to the dignity of stadtholder, 
captain-general, and admiral of Holland and Zealand. This 
is the first instance of these states taking on themselves the 
nomination to the dignity of stadtholder, for even William 
had held his commission from Philip, or in his name ; but 
Friesland, Groningen, and Guelders had already appointed 
their local governors, under the same title, by the authority 
of the states-general, the archduke Mathias, or even of tlie 
provincial states. || Holland had now also at the head of its 
civil government a citizen full of talent and probity, who was 
thus able to contend with the insidious designs of Leicester 
against the liberty lie nominally came to protect. This was 
Barnevelt, who was promoted from his office of pensionary of 
Rotterdam to that of Holland, and who accepted the dignity 
only on condition of being free to resign it if any accommo- 
dation of differences should take place with Spain.lT 

xMexander of Parma had, by the death of his mother, in 
February, 1586, exchanged his title of Prince for the supe- 

* Meteren. t Hume, vol. v. p. 272. | Vandervynct, 1. vi. c. 2. 

§ Hume. '■ Cerisier, Hist. Gen. des Provinces Unies, t. iv. p. 66. 

H Cerisif r. 



1586. DEATH OF SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. 161 

rior one of duke of Parma, and soon resumed his enterprises 
with his usual energy and success : various operations took 
place, in which the English on every opportunity distinguish- 
ed themselves ; particularly in an action near the town of 
Grave, in Brabant ; and in the taking of Axel by escalade, 
under the orders of Sir Philip Sidney. A more important 
ffair occurred near Zutphen, at a place called Warnsfeld, 
both which towns have given names to the action. On this 
occasion the veteran Spaniards, under the marquis of Guasto, 
were warmly attacked and completely defeated by the Eng- 
lish ; but the victory was dearly purchased by the death of 
Sir Philip Sidney, who was mortally wounded in the thigh, 
and expired a few days afterwards, at the early age of 32 
years. In addition to the valor, talent, and conduct, which 
had united to establish his fame, he displayed, on this last 
opportunity of his short career, an instance of humanity that 
sheds a new lustre on even a character like his. Stretched 
on the battle-field, in all the agony of his wound, and parched 
with thirst, his afflicted followers brought him some water, 
procured, with difficulty, at a distance, and during the heat 
of the fight. But Sidney, seeing a soldier lying near, man- 
gled like himself, and apparently expiring, refused the water, 
saying, " Give it to that poor man ; his sufferings are greater 
than mine."* 

Leicester's conduct was now become quite intolerable to 
the states. His incapacity and presumption were every day 
more evident and more revolting. He seemed to consider 
himself in a province wholly reduced to English authority, 
and paid no sort of attention to the very opposite character 
of the people. An eminent Dutch author accounts for this, 
in terms which may make an Englishman of this age not a 
little proud of the contrast which his character presents to 
what it was then considered. " The Englishman," says Gro- 
tius, " obeys like a slave, and governs like a tyrant ; while 
the Belgian knows how to serve and to command with equal 
moderation,"! The dislike between Leicester and those he 
insulted and misgoverned, soon became mutual. He retired 
to the town of Utrecht; and pushed his injurious conduct to 
such an extent, that he became an object of utter hatred to 
the provinces. All the friendly feelings towards England 
were gradually changed into suspicion and dislike. Confer- 
ences took place at the Hague between Leicester and the 
states, in which. , Barnevelt overwhelmed his contemptible 
shuffling by the force of irresistible eloquence and well-de- 

* Boi. xxi. 43, t Grot. Ann. 

1 1 



162 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1587. 

served reproaches ; and after new acts of treachery, still 
more odious than his former, this unworthy favorite at last set 
out for Eng-land, to lay an account of his government at the 
feet of the queen.* 

The growing- hatred against England was fomented by the 
true patriots, who aimed at the liberty of their country ; and 
may be excused, from the various instances of treachery dis 
played, not only by the commander-in-chief, but by several 
of his inferiors in command. A strong fort, near Zutphen, 
under the government of Roland York, the town of Deven- 
ter, under that of William Stanly, and subsequently Guel- 
ders under a Scotchman named Pallet, were delivered up to 
the Spaniards by these men ; and about the same time the 
English cavalry committed some excesses in Guelders and 
Holland, which added to the prevalent prejudice against the 
nation in general.f This enmity was no longer to be con- 
cealed. The partisans of Leicester, were one by one, under 
plausible pretexts, removed from the council of state ; and 
Elizabeth having required from Holland the exportation into 
England of a large quantity of rye, it was firmly but respect- 
fully refused, as inconsistent with the wants of the provinces. 

Prince Maurice, from the caprice and jealousy of Leices- 
ter, now united in himself the whole power of command, and 
commenced that brilliant course of conduct, which consoli- 
dated the independence of his country, and elevated him to 
the first rank of military glory. His early efibrts were turned 
to the suppression of the partiality which in some places ex- 
isted for English domination ; and he never allowed himself 
to be deceived by the hopes of peace held out by the empe- 
ror and the kings of Denmark and Poland. Without refusing 
their mediation, he labored incessantly to organize every pos- 
sible means for maintaining the war. His efibrts were con- 
siderably favored by the measures of Philip for the support 
of the league formed by the house of Guise against Henry 
in. and Henry IV. of France ; but still more by the formi- 
dable enterprise which the Spanish monarch was now pre- 
paring against England. 

Irritated and mortified by the assistance which Elizabeth 
had given to the revolted provinces, Philip resolved to em- 
ploy his whole power in attempting the conquest of England 
itself; hoping afterwards to effect with ease the subjugation 
of the Netherlands. He caused to be built, in almost every 
port of Spain and Portugal, galleons, carricks, and other ships 
of war of the largest dimensions ; and at the same time gave 

* Ceiisier, t Bor. xx. 22. 2fi. 28, 



1587. THE SPANISH ARMADA. 163 

orders to the duke of Parma to assemble in the harbors of 
Flanders as many vessels as he could collect together. The 
Spanish fleet, consisting- of more than 140 ships of the line, 
and manned hj 20,000 sailors, assem.bled at Lisbon under the 
orders of the duke of Medina Sidonia ; while the duke of 
Parma, uniting his forces, held himself ready on the coast of 
Flanders, with an army of 30,000 men, and 400 transports. 
This prodigious force obtained, in Spain, the ostentatious title 
of the Invincible Armada. Its destination was for a while 
attempted to be concealed, under pretext that it was meant 
for India, or for the anniiiilation of the United Provinces ; 
but the mystery was soon discovered. iVt the end of May, 
the principal fleet sailed from the port of Lisbon ; and being 
reinforced ofl" Corunna by a considerable squadron, the whole 
armament steered its course for the shores of England. 

The details of the progress and the failure of this cele- 
brated attempt, are so tlioroughly the province of Englisli 
history, that they would be in this place superfluous. But it 
must not be forgotten that the glory of the proud result was 
amply shared by the new republic, whose existence depended 
on it. While Howard and Drake held the British fleet in 
readiness to oppose the Spanish armada, that of Holland, con- 
sisting of but twenty-five ships, under the command of Justin 
of Nassau, prepared to take a part in the conflict. This gal- 
lant though illegitimate scion of the illustrious house whose 
name he upheld on many occasions, proved himself on the 
present worthy of such a father as William, and such a brother 
as Maurice. While the duke of Medina Sidonia, ascending 
the channel as far as Dunkirk, there expected the junction 
of the duke of Parma with his important reinforcement, Jus- 
tin of Nassau, by a constant activity, and a display of intre- 
pid talent, contrived to block up the whole expected force in 
the ports of Flanders from Lillo to Dunkirk. The duke of 
Parma found it impossible to force a passage on any one 
point ; and was doomed to the mortification of knowing that 
the attempt was frustrated, and the whole force of Spain 
frittered away, discomfited, and disgraced, from the want of 
a co-operation, which he could not, however, reproach him- 
self for having withheld. The issue of the memorable ex- 
pedition which cost Spain years of preparation, thousands of 
men, and millions of treasure, was received in the country 
which sent it forth v/ith consternation and rage. Philip alone 
possessed or affected an apathy, which he covered with a 
veil of mock devotion that few were deceived by. At the 
news of the disaster, he fell on his knees, and rendering 



164 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1590. 

thanks for that gracious dispensation of Providence, expressed 
his joy that the calamity was not greater.* 

The people, the priests, and the commanders of the expe- 
dition were not so easily appeased, or so clever as their hypo- 
critical master in concealing their mortification. The priests 
accounted for this triumph of heresy as a punishment on 
Spain for suffering the existence of the infidel Moors in some 
parts of the country.f The defeated admirals threw the 
whole hlame on the duke of Parma. He, on his part, sent an 
ample remonstrance to the king; and Philip declared that 
he was satisfied with the conduct of his nephew. Leicester 
died four days after the final defeat and dispersion of the ar- 
mada. | 

The war in the Netherlands had been necessarily suffered 
to languish, while every eye was fixed on the progress of 
the armada, from formation to defeat. But new efforts were 
soon made by the duke of Parma to repair the time he had 
lost, and soothe, by his successes, the disappointed pride of 
Spain. Several officers now came into notice, remarkable 
for deeds of great gallantry and skill. None among those 
were so distinguished as Martin Schenck, a soldier of fortune, 
a man of ferocious activity, who began his career in the ser- 
vice of tyranny, and ended it by chance in that of indepen- 
dence. He changed sides several times ; but, no matter who 
he fought for, he did his duty well, from that unconquerable 
principle of pugnacity which seemed to make his sword a 
part of himself 

Schenck had lately, for the last time, gone over to the side 
of the states, and had caused a fort to be built in the isle of 
Betewe, — that possessed of old by the Batavians, — which was 
called by his name, and was considered the key to the pas- 
sage of the Rhine. From this strong-hold he constantly har- 
assed the archbishop of Cologne, and had as his latest ex- 
ploit surprised and taken the strong town of Bonn. While 
he duke of Parma took prompt measures for the relief of the 
prelate, making himself master in the mean time of some 
places of strength, the indefatigable Schenck resolved to make 
an attempt on the important town of Nimeguen. He with 
great caution embarked a chosen body of troops on the Wahal, 
and arrived under the walls of Nimeguen at sunrise on the 
morning chosen for the attack. His enterprise seemed al- 
most crowned with success ; when the inhabitants, recovering 
from their fright, precipitated themselves from the town; 
forced the assailants to retreat to their boats ; and, carryuig 



Hume. t Strype, vol. iii. p. 52o. j: Hume. 



1591. SUCCESSES OF PRINCE MAURICE. 165 

the combat into those overcharged and fragile vessels, upset 
several, and among others that w^hich contained Schenck 
himself, who, covered with wounds, and fighting to the last 
gasp, was drowned with the greater part of his followers. 
His body, when recovered, was treated with the utmost in- 
dignity, quartered, and hung in portions over the different 
gates of the city.* 

The following year was distinguished by another daring 
attempt on the part of the Hollanders, but followed by a dif- 
ferent result. A captain named Haranguer concerted with 
one Adrien Vandenberg, a plan for the surprise of Breda, on 
the possession of which prince Maurice had set a great value. 
The associates contrived to conceal in a boat, laden with turf 
(which formed the principal fuel of the inhabitants of that 
part of the country,) and of which Vandenberg was master, 
eighty determined soldiers, and succeeded in arriving close to 
the city without any suspicion being excited. One of the sol- 
diers, named Matthew Helt, being suddenly affected with a 
violent cough, implored his comrades to put him to death, to 
avoid the risk of a discovery. But a corporal of the city guard 
having inspected the cargo with unsuspecting carelessness, 
the immolation of the brave soldier became unnecessary, and 
the boat was dragged into the basin by the assistance of some 
of the very garrison who were so soon to fall victims to the 
stratagem. At midnight the concealed soldiers quitted their 
hiding-places, leaped on shore, killed the sentinels, and easily 
became masters of the citadel. Prince Maurice, following 
close with his army, soon forced the town to submit, and put 
it into so good a state of defence, that count Mansfield, who 
was sent to retake it, was obliged to retreat after useless ef- 
forts to fulfil his mission. 

The duke of Parma, whose constitution was severely injured 
by the constant fatigues of war and the anxieties attending on 
the late transactions, had snatched a short interval for the 
purpose of recruiting his health at the waters of Spa. While 
at that place he received urgent orders from Philip to aban- 
don for a while all his proceedings in the Netherlands, and to 
hasten into France with his whole disposable force, to assist 
the army of the League. The battle of Yvri (in which the 
son of the unfortunate count Egmont met his death while 
fighting in the service of his father's royal murderer) had 
raised the prospects and hopes of Henry IV. to a high pitch ; 
and Paris, which he closely besieged, was on the point of 
yielding to his arms. The duke of Parma received his uncle's 

* D'Evve?., 



166 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1591. 

orders with great repugnance ; and lamented the necessity of 
leaving the field of his fotmer exploits open to the enterprise 
and talents of prince Maurice. He nevertheless obeyed; and 
leajVing- count Mansfield at the head of the government, he 
conducted his troops against the royal opponent, who alone 
seemed fully worthy of coping with him. 

The attention of all Europe was now fixed on the exciting 
spectacle of a contest between these two greatest captains of 
the age. The glory of success, the fruit of consummate skill, 
was gained by Alexander ; who, by an admirable manoeuvre, 
got possession of the town of Lagny-sur-Seine, under the very 
eyes of Henry and his whole army, and thus acquired the 
means of providing Paris with every thing requisite for its 
defence. The French monarch saw all his projects bafiled, 
and his hopes frustrated ; while his antagonist, having fully 
completed his object, drew off his army through Champagne, 
and made a fine retreat through an enemy's country, harassed 
at every step, but with scarcely any loss. 

But while this expedition added greatly to the renown of 
the general, it considerably injured the cause of Spain in the 
Low Countries. Prince Maurice, taking prompt advantage 
of the absence of his great rival, had made himself master of sev- 
eral fortresses ; and some Spanish regiments having mutinied 
agamst the commanders left behind by the duke of Parma, 
others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready 
on the slightest pretext to follow their example. Maurice 
did not lose a single opportunity of profiting by circumstances 
so favorable ; and even after the return of Alexander he seized 
on Zutphen, Deventer, and Nimeguen, despite of all the ef- 
forts of the Spanish army. The duke of Parma, daily breaking 
down under the progress of disease, and agitated by these re- 
verses, repaired again to Spa, taking at once every possible 
means for the recruitment of his army and the recovery of 
his health, on v/hich its discipline and the chances of success 
now so evidently depended. 

But all his plans were again frustrated by a renewal of 
Philip's peremptory orders to march once more into France, 
to uphold the failing cause of the League against the intre- 
pidity and talent of Henry IV. At this juncture the emperor 
Rodolf again offered his mediation between Spain and the 
United Provinces. But it was not likely that the confederated 
States, at the very moment when their cause began to tri- 
umph, and their commerce was every day becoming more 
and more flourishing, would consent to make any compramise 
with the tyranny they were at length in a fair way of crush- 
ing. 



1592. DEATH OF THE DUKE OF PARMA. 167 

The duke of Parma again appeared in France in the be- 
ginning- of the year 1592 ; and, having formed his communi- 
cations with the army of the League, marched to the rehef 
cf the city of Rouen, at that period pressed to the last extrem- 
ity by the Huguenot forces. After some sharp skirmishes — 
and one in particular, in which Henry IV. suffered his valor 
to lead him into a too rash exposure of his own and his army's 
safety — a series of manceuvres took place, which displayed 
tlie talents of the rival generals in the most brilliant aspect. 
Alexander at length succeeded in raising the siege of Rouen, 
and made himself master of Conaebec, v/hich commanded 
the navigation of the Seine. Henry, taking advantage of 
Vidiat appeared an irreparable fault on the part of the duke, 
invested his army in the hazardous position he had chosen ; 
but while believing that he had the whole of his enemies in 
his power, he found that Alexander had passed the Seine 
with his entire force — raismg his military renown to the ut- 
most possible height, by a retreat which it was deemed ut- 
terly impossible to effect.* 

On his return to the Netherlands, the duke found himself 
again under the necessity of repairing to Spa, in search of 
some relief from the suffering, which was considerably in- 
creased by the effects of a wound received in this last cam- 
paign. In spite of his shattered constitution, he maintained 
to the latest moment the most active endeavors for the re- 
organization of his army ; and he was preparing for a new ex- 
pedition into France, when, fortunately for the good cause in 
both countries, he was surprised by death on the 3d of De- 
cember, 1592, at the abbey of St. Vaast, near Arras, at the 
age of forty-seven years. As it was hard to imagine that 
Philip would suffer any one who had excited his jealousy to 
die a natural death, that of the duke of Parma was attributed 
to slow poison. 

Alexander of Parma was certainly one of the most re- 
markable, and, it may be added, one of the greatest, charac- 
ters of his day. Most historians have upheld him even higher 
perhaps than he should be placed on the scale; asserting that 
he can be reproached with very few of the vices of the age 
in which he lived.f Others consider this judgment too favora- 
ble, and accuse him of participation in all the crhnes of 
Philip, whom he served so zealously.| His having excited 
the jealousy of the tyrant, or even had he been put to death 
by his orders, would little iniiuence the question ; for Philip 
was quite capable of ingratitude or murder, to either an ac- 

* Browiiic:, Hist, of tho Huguenots. t Giotius. J Cerisier 



ji)3 UrSTOKY OF THE NETHEKXANDS. 159^3 

complice or an opponent of his baseness. But even allowing 
that Alexander's fine qualities were sullied by his complicity 
in these odious measures, we must still in justice admit that 
they were too much in the spirit of the times, and particu- 
larly of the school in which he was trained ; and while we 
lament that his political or private faults place him on so 
low a level, we must rank him as one of the very first mas- 
ters in the art of war in his own or any other age. 



CHAP. XIV. 
1592—1599. 

TO THE INBEPENDENCE OF BELGIUM AND THE DEATH OP PHILIP U 

The duke of Parma had chosen the count of Mansfield for 
his successor, and the nomination was approved by the king. 
He entered on his g-overnment under most disheartening cir- 
cumstances. The rapid conquests of prince Maurice in Bra- 
bant and Flanders were scarcely less mortifying than the 
total disorganization into which those two provinces had fallen. 
They were ravaged by bands of robbers called Picaroons, 
whose audacity reached such a height, that they opposed in 
large bodies the forces sent for their suppression by the gov- 
ernment. They on one occasion killed the provost of Flanders, 
and burned his lieutenant in a hollow tree ; and on another 
they mutilated a whole troop of the national militia, and their 
commander, with circumstances of most revolting cruelty.* 

The authority of governor-general, though not the title, 
was now fully shared by the count of Fuentes, who was sent 
to Brussels by the king of Spain ; and the ill effects of this 
double viceroyalty was soon seen, in the brilliant progress of 
prince Maurice, and the continual reverses sustained by the 
royalist armies. The king, still bent on projects of bigotry, 
sacrificed without scruple men and treasure for the overthrow 
of Henry IV. and the success of the League. The affairs of 
the Netherlands seemed now a secondary object; and he 
drew largely on his forces in that country for reinforcement 
to the ranks of his tottering allies. A final blow was, how 
ever, struck against the hopes of intolerance in France, and 
to the existence of the League, by the conversion of Henry IV. 
to the Catholic religion ; he deeming theological disputes 



1594. THE ARCHDUKE ERNEST. 109 

which put the happiness of a whole kingdom in jeopardy, as 
quite subordinate to the public good.* 

Such was the prosperity of the United Provinces, that 
they had been enabled to send a large supply, both of money 
and" men, to the aid of Henry, their constant and generous 
ally. And notwithstanding this, their armies and fleets, so 
far from suffering diminution, were augmented day by day. 
Philip, resolved to summon up all his energy for the revival 
of the war against the republic, now appointed the archduke 
Ernest, brother of the emperor Rodolf, to the post which the 
disunion of Mansfield and Fuentes rendered as embarrassing 
as it had become inglorious. This prince, of a gentle and 
conciliatory character, was received at Brussels with great 
magnificence and general joy ; his presence reviving- the 
deep-felt hopes of peace entertained by the suffering people. 
Such were also the cordial wishes of the prince ;f but more 
than one design, formed at this period against the life of 
prince Maurice, frustrated every expectation of the kind. A 
priest of the province of Namur, named Michael Renichon, 
disguised as a soldier, was the new instrument meant to strike 
another blow at the greatness of the house of Nassau, in the 
person of its gallant representative, prince Maurice ; as also 
in that of his brother, Frederic Henry, then ten years of age. 
On the confession of the intended assassin, he was employed 
by count Berlaimont to murder the two princes. Renichon 
happily mismanaged the affair, and betrayed his intention. 
He was arrested at Breda, conducted to the Hague, and there 
tried and executed on the 3d of June, 1594.| This miserable 
wretch accused the archduke Ernest of having countenanced 
his attempt ; but nothing whatever tends to criminate, while 
every probability acquits, that prince of such a participation. 

In this same year a soldier named Peter Dufour embarked 
in a like atrocious plot. He, too, was seized and executed 
before he could carry it into effect ; and to his dying hour 
persisted in accusing the archduke of being his insfigator. 
But neither the judges who tried, nor the best historians who 
record, his intended crime, gave any belief to this accusation.^ 
The mild and honorable disposition of the prince held a suffi- 
cient guarantee against its likelihood ; and it is not less 
pleasing to be able fully to join in the prevalent opinion, than 
to mark a spirit of candor and impartiality break forth through 
the mass of bad and violent passions which crowd the records 
of that age. 

But all the esteem inspired by the personal character of 

* Hume. t BeTitivofTlio. | Lo P^tit. Hv. 7 c 2. ? Meteren. 



170 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1595. 

Ernest could not overcome the repugnance of the United 
Provinces to trust to the apparent sincerity of the tyrant in 
whose name he made his overtures for peace. They were all 
respectfully and firmly rejected ; and prince Maurice, in the 
mean time, with his usual activity, passed the Mouse and the 
Rhine, and invested and quickly took the town of Groningen, 
y which he consummated the establishment of the republic, 
nd secured its rank among the principal powers of Europe, 
The archduke Ernest, finding' all his efforts for peace frus- 
trated, and all hopes of gaining his object by hostility to be 
vain, became a prey to disappointment and regret, and died, 
from the effects of a slow fever, on the 21st of February, 
1595 ; leaving to the count of Faentes the honors and anxie- 
ties of the government, subject to the ratification of the king. 
This nobleman began the exercise of his temporary functions 
by an irruption into France, at the head of a small army ; 
war having been declared against Spain by Henry IV., who, 
on his side, had dispatched the admiral de Villars to attack 
Philip's possessions in Hainault and Artois. This gallant 
officer lost a battle and his life in the contest ; and Fuentes, 
encouraged by the victory, took some frontier towns, and laid 
siege to Cambray, the great object of his plans. The citi- 
zens, who detested their governor, the marquis of Bologni, who 
had for some time assumed an independent tyranny over them, 
gave up the place to the besiegers ; and the citadel surren- 
dered some days later."" After this exploit Fuentes returned 
to Brussels, vv^here, notwithstanding his success, he was ex- 
tremely unpopular. He had placed a part of his forces under 
the command of Mondragon, one of the oldest and cleverest 
officers in the service of Spain. Some trifling affairs took 
place in Brabant ; but the arrival of the archduke Albert, 
whom the king had appointed to succeed his brother Ernest 
in the office of governor-general, deprived Fuentes of any 
further opportunity of signalizing his talents for supreme 
command. Albert arrived at Brussels on the 11th of Feb- 
ruary, 1596, accompanied by the prince of Orange, who, 
v/hen count of Beuren, had been carried off from the uni- 
versity of Louvain, twenty-eight years previously, and held 
captive in Spain during the whole of that period. f 

The archduke Albert, fifth son of the emperor Maximilian 
II., and brother of Rodolf, stood high in the opinion of Philip 
his uncle, and merited his reputation for talents, bravery, and 
prudence. He had been early made archbishop of Toledo, 
and afterwards cardinal ; but his profession was not that of 

* Bentivoglio. t Metcren, liv. IS. 



1597. THE ARCHDUKE ALBERT. 171 

these nominal dignities. He was a warrior and politician 
of considerable capacity ; and had for some years faithfully 
served the king", as viceroy of Portugal. But Philip meant 
him for the more independent situation of sovereign of the 
Netherlands, and at the same time destined him to be the 
husband of his daughter Isabella. He now sent him, in the 
capacity of governor-general, to prepare the way for the im 
portant change ; at once to gain the good graces of the peo 
pie, and soothe, by this removal from Philip's too close neigh 
borhood, the jealousy of his son the hereditary prince of Spain. 
Albert brought with him to Brussels a small reinforcement 
for the army, with a large supply of money, more wanting 
at this conjuncture than men. He highly praised the conduct 
of Fuentes in the operations just finished ; and resolved to 
continue the war on the same plan, but with forces much su- 
perior. 

He opened his first campaign early ; and, by a display of 
clever manceuvring, which threatened an attempt to force 
the French to raise the siege of La Fere, ui the heart of Pi- 
cardy, he concealed his real design — the capture of Calais ; 
and he succeeded in its completion almost before it was sus- 
pected. The Spanish and Walloon troops, led on by Rone, 
a distinguished oflicer, carried the first defences : after nine 
days of siege the place was forced to surrender ; and in a 
few more the citadel followed the example. The archduke 
soon after took the towns of Ardres and Hulst ; and by pru- 
dently avoiding a battle, to which he was constantly provoked 
by Henry IV., who commanded the French army in person, 
he established his character for military talent of no ordinary 
degree. 

He at the same time made overtures of reconciliation to 
the United Provinces, and hoped that the return of the prince 
of Orange would be a means of eflfecting so desirable a pur- 
pose. But the Dutch were not to be deceived by the apparent 
sincerity of Spanish negotiation. They even doubted the 
sentiments of the prince of Orange, whose attachments and 
principles had been formed in so hated a school ; and nothing 
nassed between them and him but mutual civilities. They 
clearly evinced their disapprobation of his intended visit to 
Holland ; and he consequently fixed his residence in Brussels, 
passing his life in an inglorious neutrality. 

A naval expedition formed in this year by the English and 
Dutch against Cadiz, commanded by the earl of Essex, and 
counts Louis and William of Nassau, cousins of prince Mau- 
rice, was crowned with brilliant success, and somewhat con- 
soled the provinces for the contomporary exploits of the arch- 



172 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1597. 

duke.* But the following year opened with an affair, which 
at once proved his unceasing activity, and added largely to 
the reputation of his rival, prince Maurice. The former had 
detached the count of Varas, with about 6000 men, for the 
purpose of invading the province of Holland : but Maurice, 
with equal energy and superior talent, followed his move^-^ 
ments ; came up with hun near Turnhout, on the 24th of 
January, 1597 ; and after a sharp action, of which the Dutch 
cavalry bore the whole brunt, Varas was killed, and his troops 
defeated with considerable loss.f 

This was in its consequences a most disastrous affair to the 
archduke. His army was disorganized, and his finances ex- 
hausted ; while the confidence of the states in their troops 
and their general was considerably raised. But the taking 
of Amiens by Portocarrero, one of the most enterprising of 
the Spanish captains, gave a new turn to the failing fortunes 
of Albert. This gallant officer, whose greatness of mind, 
according to some historians, was much disproportioned to 
the smallness of his person, | gained possession of that im- 
portant town by a well-conducted stratagem, and maintained 
his conquest valiantly till he was killed in its defence. Henry 
IV. made prodigious efforts to recover the place, the chief 
bulwark on that side of France ; and having forced Mon- 
tenegro, the worthy successor of Portocarrero, to capitulate, 
granted him and his garrison most honorable conditions. 
Henry, having secured Amiens against any new attack, 
returned to Paris, and made a triumphal entry into the city. 

During this year prince Maurice took a number of towns 
in rapid succession ; and the states, according to their cus- 
tom, caused various medals, in gold, silver, and copper, to be 
struck, to commemorate the victories which had signalized 
their arms.§ 

Philip II., feeling himself approaching the termination of 
his long and agitating career, now wholly occupied himself 
in negotiations for peace with France. Henry IV. desired it 
as anxiously. The pope, Clement VEIL, encouraged by his 
exhortations this mutual inclination. The king of Poland 



* Hiime. 

t This action may be talcen as a fair sample of the difficulty with which 
any estimate can be formed of the relative losses on such occasions. The 
Dutch historians state the loss of the royalists, in killed, at upwards of 2000. 
Meteren, a good authority, says the peasants buried 2250; while Bentivog- 
lio, an Italian writer in the interest of Spain, makes the number exactly 
half that amount. Grotius says that the loss of the Dutch was four meii 
killed. Bentivoglio states it at .100. But, at either computation, it is clear 
that the affair was a brilliant one on the part of prince Maurice. 

t Grotius De Tljou. § D'Ewez. 



1598. ALBERT AND ISABELLA. 173 

sent ambassadors to the Hague and to London, to induce the 
states and queen Elizabeth to become parties in a general 
pacification. These overtures led to no conclusion ; but the 
conferences between France and Spain went on with apparent 
cordiality and great promptitude, and a peace was concluded 
between these powers at Vervins, on the 2d of May, 1598. 

Shortly after the publication of this treaty, another im 
portant act was made known to the world, by which Philip 
ceded to Albert and Isabella, on their being formally affianced 
— a ceremony which now took place, — the sovereignty of 
Burgundy and the Netherlands. This act bears date the 6th 
of May, and was proclaimed with all the solemnity due to so 
important a transaction. It contained thirteen articles ; and 
was based on the misfortunes which the absence of the sov- 
ereign had hitherto caused to the Low Countries. The Catho- 
lic religion was declared that of the state, in its full integrity. 
The provinces were guarantied against dismemberment. 
The archdukes, by which title the joint sovereigns were de- 
signated without any distinction of sex, were secured in the 
possession, with right of succession to their children ; and a 
provision was added, that in default of posterity their posses- 
sions should revert to the Spanish crown.* The infanta Isa- 
bella soon sent her procuration to the archduke, her affianced 
husband, giving him full power and authority to take posses- 
sion of the ceded dominions in her name as in his own ; and 
Albert was inaugurated with great pomp at Brussels, on the 
22d of August. Having put every thing in order for the 
regulation of the government during his absence, he set out 
for Spain, for the purpose of accomplishing his spousals, and 
bringing back his bride to the chief seat of their joint power. 
But before his departure he wrote to the various states of the 
republic, and to prince Maurice himself, strongly recommend- 
ing submission and reconciliation. These letters received 
no answer; a new plot against the life of prince Maurice, by 
a wretched individual named Peter Pann, having aroused 
the uidignation of the country, and determined it to treat 
with suspicion and contempt every insidious proposition from 
the tyranny it defied.f 

Albert placed his uncle, the cardinal Andrew of Austria, 
at the head of the temporary government, and set out on his 
journey ; taking the little town of Halle in his route, and de- 
posing at the altar of the Virgin, who is there held in par- 
ticular honor, his cardinal's hat as a token of his veneration. 
He had not made much progress when he received accounts 

*Grutius, Hist. lib. viii t D'Ewez. 



174 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1599. 

of the demise of Philip IL, who died, after long" sufFeringf, 
and with great resignation, on the 13th of September, 1598, 
at the age of seventy-two.* Albert was several months on 
his journey through Germany ; and the ceremonials of his 
union with the infanta did not take place till the 18th of 
April, 1599, when it was Ifinally solemnized in the city of 
Valencia in Spain. 

This transaction, by which the Netherlands were positive- 
ly erected into a separate sovereignty, seems naturally to 
make the limits of another epoch in their history. It com- 
pletely decided the division between the northern and south- 
ern provinces, which, although it had virtually taken place 
long previous to this period, could scarcely be considered as 
formally consummated until now. Here then we shall pause 
anew, and take a rapid review of the social state of the Neth- 
erlands during the last half century, which was beyond all 
doubt the most important period of their history, from the 
earliest times till the present. 

It has been seen that when Charles V. resigned his throne 
and the possession of his vast dominions to his son, arts, com- 
merce, and manufactures had risen to a state of considerable 
perfection throughout the Netherlands. The revolution, of 
which we have traced the rise and progress, naturally pro- 
duced to those provinces which relapsed into slavery a most 
lamentable change in every branch of industry, and struck a 
blow at the general prosperity, the effects of which are felt 
to this very day. Arts, science, and literature were sure to 
be checked and withered in the blaze of civil war ; and we 
have now to mark the retrograde movements of most of those 
charms and advantages of civilized life, in which Flanders 
and the other southern states were so rich. 

The rapid spread of enlightenment on religious subjects 
soon converted the manufactories and workshops of Flanders 
into so many conventicles of reform; and the clear-sighted 
artisans fled in thousands from the tyranny of Alva into Eng- 
land, Germany, and Holland, — those happier countries, where 
the government adopted and went hand in hand with the 
progress of rational belief Commerce followed the fate 
of m.anufactures. The foreign merchants one by one aban- 
doned the theatre of bigotry and persecution ; and even 
Antwerp, which had succeeded Bruges as the great mart 
of European traffic, was ruined by the horrible excesses 
of the Spanish soldiery, and never recovered from the shock. 
Its trade, its wealth, and its prosperity, were gradually trans- 

* Watson. 



1599. PROGRESS OP COMMERCE. 175 

ferred to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the towns of Holland 
and Zealand ; and the growth of Dutch commerce attained 
its proud maturity in the establishment of the India company 
in 1596, the effects of which we shall have hereafter more 
particularly to dwell on. 

The exciting and romantic enterprises of the Portuguese 
and Spanish navigators in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu 
ries, roused all the ardor of other nations for those distant ad- 
ventures ; and the people of the Netherlands were early 
influenced by the general spirit of Europe. If they were not 
the discoverers of new worlds, they were certainly the first 
to make the name of European respected and venerated by 
the natives. 

Animated by the ardor which springs from the spirit of 
freedom and the enthusiasm of success, the United Provinces 
labored for the discovery of new outlets for their commerce 
and navigation. Tlie government encouraged the specula- 
tions of individuals, which promised fresh and fertile sources 
of revenue, so necessary for the maintenance of the war.* 
Until the year 1581 the merchants of Holland and Zealand 
were satisfied to find the productions of India at Lisbon, 
which was the mart of that branch of trade ever since the 
Portuguese discovered the passage by the Cape of Good 
Hope. But Philip II., having conquered Portugal, excluded 
the United Provinces from the ports of that country ; and 
their enterprising mariners were from that period driven to 
those efforts which rapidly led to private fortune and general 
prosperity. The English had opened the way in this career ; 
and the states-general having offered a large reward for the 
discovery of a north-west passage, frequent and most adven- 
turous voyages took place. Houtman, Le Maire, Heemskirk, 
Ryp, and others, became celebrated for their enterprise, and 
some for their perilous and interesting adventures. 

The United Provinces w^ere soon without any rival on the 
seas. In Europe alone they had 1200 merchant-ships in ac- 
tivity, and upwards of 70,000 sailors constantly employed.! 
They built annually 2000 vessels. In the year 1598, eighty 
ships sailed from their ports for the Indies or America. They 
carried on, besides, an extensive trade on the coast of Guinea, 
whence they brought large quantities of gold-dust; and 
found, in short, in all quarters of the globe the reward of 
their skill, industry, and courage. 

The spirit of conquest soon became grafted on the habits 
of trade. Expedition succeeded to expedition. Failure taught 

♦ Grotius, Hist. viii. 'iOD, &c. t Grot. iv. 131. 



176 



HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



1599. 



wisdom to those who did not want bravery. The random 
efforts of individuals were succeeded by organized plans, un- 
der associations well constituted and wealthy; and these 
soon gave birth to those eastern and western companies be- 
fore alluded to. The disputes between the English and the 
Hanseatic towns were carefully observed by the Dutch, and 
turned to their own advantage. The English manufacturers, 
who quickly began to flourish, from the influx of Flemish 
workmen under the encouragement of Elizabeth, formed 
companies in the Netherlands, and sent their cloths into those 
very towns of Germany which formerly possessed the exclu- 
sive privilege of their manufacture.* These towns naturally 
felt dissatisfied, and their complaints were encouraged by the 
king of Spain. The English adventurers received orders to 
quit the empire ; and, invited by the states-general, many of 
them fixed their residence in Middleburg, which became 
the most celebrated woollen market in Europe. 

The establishment of the Jews in the towns of the republic 
forms a remarkable epoch in the annals of trade. This peo- 
ple, so outraged by the lothesome bigotry which Christians 
have not blushed to call religion, so far from being depressed 
by the general persecution, seemed to find it a fresh stimulus 
to the exertion of their industry. To escape death in Spain 
and Portugal they took refuge in Holland, where toleration 
encouraged, and just principles of state maintained them. 
They were at first taken for Catholics, and subjected to sus- 
picion ; but when their real faith was understood, they were 
no longer molested. 

Astronomy and geography, two sciences so closely allied 
with and so essential to navigation, flourished now through- 
out Europe. Ortilius of Antwerp, and Gerard Mercator of 
Rupelmonde, were two of the greatest geographers of the 
sixteenth century ; and the reform in the calendar at the end 
of that period gave stability to the calculations of time, which 
had previously suffered all the inconvenient fluctuations at- 
tendant on the old style. 

Literature had assumed during the revolution in the Neth- 
erlands the almost exclusive and repulsive aspect of contro- 
versial learning. The university of Douay, installed in 1562 
as a new screen against the piercing light of reform, quickly 
became the strong-hold of intolerance. That of Leyden, es- 
tablished by the eftbrts of the prince of Orange, soon after 
the famous siege of that town in 1574, was on a less exclusive 
plan — its professors being in the first instance drawn from 



Meteren, liv. 19, 



1599. CRUELTIES OF MENDOZA. 177 

Germany.* Many Flemish historians succeeded in this cen- 
tury to the ancient and uncultivated chroniclers of preceding- 
times ; the civil wars drawing- forth many writers, who re- 
corded what they witnessed, but often in a spirit of partisan- 
ship and want of candor, which seriously embarrasses him 
who desires to learn the truth on both sides of an important 
question. Poetry declined and drooped in these times of tu- 
mult and suffering ; and the chambers of rhetoric, to which 
its cultivation had been chiefly due, gradually lost their in- 
fluence, and finally ceased to exist. 

In fixing our attention on the republic of the United Prov- 
inces during the epoch now completed, we feel the desire, 
and lament the impossibility, of entering on the details of 
government in that most remarkable state. For these we 
must refer to what appears to us the best authority for clear 
and ample information on the prerogative of the stadtholder, 
the constitution of the states-general, the privileges of the 
tribunals and local assemblies, and other points of moment 
concerning the principles of the Belgic confederation.! 



CHAP. XV. 
1599—1604. 

TO THE CAMPAIGN OF PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOL.A 

Previous to his departure for Spain, the archduke Albert 
had placed the government of the provinces which acknow- 
ledged his domination in the hands of his uncle, the cardinal 
Andrew of Austria, leaving in command of the army Fran- 
cisco Mendoza, admiral of Aragon. The troops at his dispo- 
sal amounted to 22,000 fighting men, — a formidable force, 
and enough to justify the serious apprehensions of the re- 
public. Albert, whose finances were exhausted by payments 
made to the numerous Spanish and Italian mutineers, had 
left orders with Mendoza to secure some place on the Rhine, 
which might open a passage for free quarters in the enemy's 
country. But this unprincipled officer forced his way into 
the neutral districts of Cleves and Westphalia ; and with a 
body of executioners ready to hang up all who might resist, 
and of priests to prepare them for death, he carried such ter- 



t See Cerisier. Hi^^t. Geii. do« Piov. TTnies. t. iv. 

13 



178 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1599. 

ror on his march that no opposition was ventured.* The atro- 
cious cruelties of Mendoza and his troops baffle all descrip- 
tion : on one occasion tliey murdered, in cold blood, the count 
of Walkenstein, who surrendered his castle on the express 
condition of his freedom ; and they committed every possible 
excess that may be imagined of ferocious soldiery encouraged 
by a base commander.f 

Prince Maurice soon put into motion, to oppose this army 
of brigands, his small disposable force of about 7000 men. 
With these, however, and a succession of masterly manoeu- 
vres, he contrived to preserve the republic from invasion, and 
to paralyze and almost destroy an army three times superior 
in numbers to his own 4 The horrors committed by the Span- 
iards, in the midst of peace, and without the slightest provo- 
cation, could not fail to excite the utmost indignation in a na- 
tion so fond of liberty a,nd so proud as Germany. The duchy 
of Cleves felt particularly aggrieved ; and Sybilla, the sister 
of the duke, a real heroine in a glorious cause, so worked on 
the excited passions of the people by her eloquence and her 
tears, that she persuaded all the orders of the state to unite 
against the odious enemy. Some troops were suddenly raised ; 
and a league was formed between several princes of the em- 
pire to revenge the common cause. The count de la Lippe 
was chosen general of their united forces ; and the choice 
could not have fallen on one more certainly incapable, or more 
probably treacherous. ^ 

The German army, with their usual want of activity, did 
not open the campaign till the month of June. It consisted 
of 14,000 men; and never was an army so badly conducted. 1| 
Without money, artillery, provisions, or disciplme, it was at 
any moment ready to break up and abandon its incompetent 
general : and on the very first encounter with the enemy, and 
after a loss of a couple of hundred men, it became self-dis- 
banded ; and, flying in every direction, not a single man could 
be rallied to clear away this disgrace. 

The states-general, cruelly disappointed at this result of 
measures, from which they had looked for so important a di- 
version in their favor, novv" resolved on a vigorous exertion of 
their own energies, and determined to undertake a naval ex- 
pedition of a magnitude greater than any they had hitherto 
attempted. The force of public opinion was at this period 
more powerful than it liad ever yet been in the United Prov- 
inces : for a great number of the inhabitants, who, during thb 



* Reid, XV. 427. f Meteren, liv. xxi. J Cerisier. 

§ Ibid. [|DeThou, liv. 123, 



1600. ARRIVAL OP THE ARCHDUKES. 179 

life of Philip IL, conscientiously believed that they could not 
lawfully abjure the authority once recognized and sworn to, 
became now liberated from those respectable although ab- 
surd scruples ; and the death of one unfeeling despot gave 
thousands of new citizens to the state. 

A fleet of seventy-three vessels, carrying 8000 men, was 
soon equipped, under the order of admiral Vander Goes ; and 
after a series of attempts on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, 
Africa, and the Canary isles, this expedition, from which the 
most splendid results were expected, was shattered, dispersed, 
and reduced to nothing, by a succession of unheard-of mis- 
haps. 

To these disappointments were now added domestic dis- 
sensions in the republic, in consequence of the new taxes 
absolutely necessary for the exigencies of the state. The 
conduct of queen Elizabeth greatly added to the general em- 
barrassment : she called for the payment of her former loans ; 
insisted on the recall of the English troops ; and declared her 
resolution to make peace witli Spain.* Several German 
princes promised aid in men and money, but never furnished 
either ; and in this most critical juncture, Henry IV. was the 
only foreign sovereign who did not abandon the republic. He 
sent them 1000 Swiss troops, whom he had in his pay ; al- 
lowed them to levy 3000 more in France ; and gave them a 
loan of 200,000 crowns, — a very convenient supply in their 
exhausted state. 

The archdukes Albert and Isabella arrived in the Nether- 
lands in September, and made their entrance into Brussels 
with unexampled magnificence. They soon found them- 
selves in a situation quite as critical as was that of the United 
Provinces, and both parties displayed immense energy to 
remedy their mutual embarrassments. The winter was ex- 
tremely rigorous ; so much so, as to allow of military opera- 
tions being undertaken on the ice. Prince Maurice soon 
commenced a Christmas campaign by taking the town of 
Wachtendenck ; and he followed up his success by obtaining 
possession of the important forts of Crevecoeur and St. An- 
drew, in the island of Bommel. A most dangerous mutiny 
at the same time broke out in the army of the archdukes ; 
and Albert seemed left without troops or money, at the very 
beginning of his sovereignty. 

But these successes of prince Maurice were only the pre- 
lude to an expedition of infinitely more moment, arranged 
with the utmost secrecy, and executed with an energy scarcely 



Cerisier 



180 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1600. 

to be looked for from the situation of the states. This was 
nothing less than an invasion poured into the very heart of 
Flanders, thus putting the archdukes on the defence of their 
own most vital possessions, and changing completely the 
whole character of the war.* The whole disposable troops 
of the republic, amounting to about 17,000 men, were secretly 
assembled in the island of Walcheren, in the month of June; 
and setting sail for Flanders, they disembarked near Ghent, 
and arrived on the 20th of that month under the walls of. 
Bruges. Some previous negotiations with that town had led 
the prince to expect that it would have opened its gates at 
his approach. In this he was, however, disappointed ; and 
after taking possession of some forts in the neighborhood, he 
continued his march to Nieuport, which place he invested on 
the 1st of July. 

At the news of this invasion the archdukes, though taken 
by surprise, displayed a promptness and decision that proved 
them worthy of the sovereignty wliich seemed at stake. With 
incredible activity they mustered, in a few days, an army of 
12,000 men, which they passed in review near Ghent. On 
this occasion Isabella, proving her title to a place among those 
heroic women with whom the age abounded, rode through 
the royalist ranks, and harangued them in a style of inspiring 
eloquence that inflamed their courage and secured their fidel- 
ity. Albert, seizing the moment of this excitement, put him- 
self at their head, and marched to seek the enemy, leaving his 
intrepid wife at Bruges, the nearest town to the scene of the 
action he was resolved on. He gained possession of all the 
forts taken and garrisoned by Maurice a few days before ; and 
pushing forward with his apparently irresistible troops, he 
came up on the morning of tlie 2d of July with a large body 
of those of the states, consisting of about 3000 men, sent for- 
ward under the command of count Ernest of Nassau to recon- 
noitre and judge of the extent of this most unexpected move- 
ment : for prince Maurice was, in his turn, completely sur- 
prised ; and not merely by one of those manoeuvres of war by 
v/hich the best generals are sometimes deceived, but by an 
exertion of political vigor and capacity of which history offers 
few more striking examples. Such a circumstance, however 
served only to draw forth a fresh display of those uncommon 
talents, which in so many various accidents of war had placed 
Maurice on the highest rank for military talent. The detach 
ment under count Ernest of Nassau was chiefly composed of 
Scottish infantry ; and this small force stood firmly opposed to 



* (7rot. viii. 3^7, &c, 



1600. DEFEAT OP THE ROYALISTS. 181 

the impetuous attack of the whole royalist army — thus giving 
time to the main body under the prince to take up a position, 
and form in order of battle. Count Ernest was at length 
driven back, with the loss of 800 men killed, almost all Scot- 
tish ; and being cut off from the rest of the army, was forced 
to take refuge in Ostend, which town was in possession of 
the troops of the states. 

The army of Albert now marched on, flushed with this first 
success and confident of final victory. Prince Maurice re- 
ceived them with the courage of a gallant soldier and the pre- 
caution of a consummate general. He had caused the fleet 
of ships of war and transports, which had sailed along the 
coast from Zealand, and landed supplies of ammunition and 
provisions, to retire far from the shore, so as to leave to his 
army no chance of escape but in victory. The commissioners 
from the states, who always accompanied the prince as a 
council of observation rather than of war, had retired to Os- 
tend in great consternation, to wait the issue of the battle 
which now seemed inevitable. A scene of deep feeling and 
heroism was the next episode of this memorable day, and 
throws the charm of natural affection over those circumstances 
in which glory too seldom leaves a place for the softer emo- 
tions of the heart. When the patriot army was in its position, 
and firmly waiting* the advance of the foe, prince Maurice 
turned to his brother, Frederick Henry, then sixteen years of 
age, and several young- noblemen, English, French, and Ger- 
man, who like him attended on the great captain to learn the 
art of war : he pointed out in a few words the perilous situa- 
tion in which he was placed ; declared his resolution to con- 
quer or perish on the battle-field ; and recommended the boy- 
ish band to retire to Ostend, and wait for some less desperate 
occasion, to share his renown or revenge his fall. Frederick 
Henry spurned the affectionate suggestion, and swore to stand 
by his brother to the last; and all his young companions 
adopted the same generous resolution. 

The army of tlie states was placed in order of battle, about 
a league in front of Nieuport, in the sand-hills with which the 
neighborhood abounds, its left wing resting on the sea-shore. 
Its losses of the morning, and of the garrison left in the forts 
near Bruges, reduced it to an almost exact equality with that 
of the archduke. Eacli of these armies was composed of that 
variety of troops which made them respectively an epitome 
of the various nations of Europe. The patriot force contained 
Dutch, Englisli, French, German, and Swiss, under the or- 
ders of count Louis of Nassau, Sir Francis and Sir Horace 
Vere, brothers and English ofiicers of great celebrity, with 



182 HISTORY OF THE NETHEK LANDS. 1600. 

Other distinguished captains. The archduke mustered Span- 
iards, Italians, Walloons, and Irish in his ranks, led on by 
Mendoza, La Berlotta, and their fellow-veterans. Both armies 
were in the highest state of discipline, trained to war by long 
service, and enthusiastic in the several causes which they 
served ; the two highest principles of enthusiasm urging them 
on — religious fanaticism on the one hand, and the love of free- 
dom on the other. The rival generals rode along their re- 
spective lines, addressed a few brief sentences of encourage- 
ment to their men, and presently the bloody contest began. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the archduke 
commenced the attack. His advanced guard, commanded by 
Mendoza and composed of those former mutineers who now 
resolved to atone for their misconduct, marched across the 
sand-hills with desperate resolution. They soon came into 
contact with the English contingent under Francis Vere, who 
was desperately wounded in the shock. Tlie assault was al- 
most irresistible. The English, borne down by numbers, were 
forced to give way ; but the main body pressed on to tlieir 
support. Horace Vere stepped forward to supply his brother's 
place. Not an inch of ground more was gained or lost ; the 
firing ceased, and pikes and swords crossed each other in the 
resolute conflict of man to man. The action became general 
along the whole line. The two commanders-in-chief were at 
all points. Nothing could exceed their mutual display of skill 
and courage. At length the Spanish cavalry, broken by the 
well-directed fire of the patriot artillery, fell back on their 
infantry and threw it into confusion. The archduke at the 
some instant was wounded by a lance in the clieek, unhorsed, 
and forced to quit the field. The report of his death, and the 
sight of his war-steed galloping alone across tlie field, spread 
alarm through the royalist ranks. Prince Maurice saw and 
seized on the critical moment. He who had so patiently 
maintained liis position for three liours of desperate conflict, 
now knew the crisis for a prompt and general advance. He 
gave the word and led on to the charge, and the victory was 
at once his own.* 

Tlie defeat of the royalist army was complete. The whole 
of the artillery, baggage, standards, and ammunition, fell into 
the possession of the conquerors. Nig-ht coming on saved 
those who fled, and the nature of the ground prevented the 
cavalry from consummating the destruction of the whole. As 
far as the conflicting accounts of the various historians may 
be compared and calculated on, the royalists had 3000 killed, 

* Bentivoglio, Vandervynct, &c. 



i 



1600. CONTINUANCE OP HOSTILITIES. 183 

and amoncr them several officers of rank ; while the patriot 
army, including- those who fell in the morning- action, lost 
somethino- more than half the number. The archduke, fur- 
nished with a fresh horse, gained Bruges in safety ; but he 
only waited there long enough to join his heroic wife, with 
whom he proceeded rapidly to Ghent, and thence to Brussels. 
Mendoza was wounded and taken prisoner, and with difficulty 
saved by prince Maurice from the fury of the German auxilia- 
ries. 

The moral effiscts produced by this victory on the vanquish- 
ers and vanquished, and on the state of public opinion through- 
out Europe, was immense ; but its immediate consequences 
were incredibly trifling. Not one result in a military point 
of view followed an event which appeared almost decisive of 
the war. Nieuport was again invested three days after the 
battle ; but a strong reinforcement entermg the place saved it 
from all danger, and Maurice found himself forced for want of 
supplies to abandon the scene of his greatest exploit. He re- 
turned to Holland, welcomed by the acclamations of his grate- 
ful country, and exciting the jealousy and hatred of all who 
envied his glory or feared his power. Among the sincere and 
conscientious republicans who saw danger to the public lib- 
erty in the growing influence of a successful soldier, placed 
at the head of affairs and endeared to the people by every 
hereditary and personal claim, was Olden Barneveldt the pen- 
sionary ; and from this period may be traced the growth of 
the mutual antipathy which led to the sacrifice of the most 
virtuous statesman of Holland, and the eternal disgrace of its 
hitherto heroic chief. 

The states of the Catholic provinces assembled at Brus- 
sels now gave the archdukes to understand that nothing but 
peace could satisfy their wishes or save the country from ex- 
haustion and ruin. Albert saw the reasonableness of their 
remonstrances, and attempted to carry the great object into 
effect. The states-general listened to his proposals. Com- 
missioners were appointed on both sides to treat of terms. 
They met at Bergen-op-Zoom ; but their conferences were 
broken up almost as soon as commenced. The Spanish depu- 
ties insisted on the submission of the republic to its ancient 
masters. Such a proposal was worse than insulting : it proved 
the inveterate insincerity of those with whom it originated, 
a.nd who knew it could not be entertained for a moment. Pre- 
parations for hostilities were therefore commenced on both 
sides, and the whole of the winter was thus employed. 

Early in the spring prince Maurice opened the campaign 
at the head of 16,000 men, chiefly composed of English and 



184 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1002. 

French, who seemed throug-hout the contest to forget their 
national animosities, and to know no rivalry but that of emu- 
lation in the cause of liberty. The town of Rhinberg soon 
fell into the hands of the prince. His next attempt was 
against Bois-le-duc ; and the siege of this place was signalized 
by an event that flavored of the chivalric contests now going 
out of fashion. A Norman gentleman of the name of Breaute, 
in the service of prince Maurice, challenged the royalist gar- 
rison to meet him and twenty of his comrades in arms under 
the walls of the place. The cartel was accepted by a Flem- 
ing named Abramzoom, but better known by the epithet 
Leckerbeetje (savory bit,) who, with twenty more, met Breaute 
and his friends. The combat was desperate. The Flemish 
champion was killed at the first shock by his Norman chal- 
lenger : but the latter falling into the hands of the enemy, 
they treacherously and cruelly put him to death, in violation 
of the strict conditions of the fight. Prince Maurice was 
forced to raise the siege of Bois-le-duc, and turn his attention 
in another direction.* 

The archduke Albert had now resolved to invest Ostend, a 
place of great importance to the United Provinces, but little 
worth to either party in comparison with the dreadful waste 
of treasure and human life which was the consequence of its 
memorable siege. Sir Francis Vere commanded in the place 
at the period of its final investment ; but governors, garrisons, 
and besieging forces, were renewed and replaced with a 
rapidity which gives one of the most frightful instances of 
the ravages of war. The siege of Ostend lasted upwards of 
three years. It became a school for the young nobility of all 
Europe, who repaired to either one or the other party to learn 
the principles and the practice of attack and defence. Every 
thing that the art of strategy could devise was resorted to 
on either side. The slaughter in the various assaults, sorties, 
and bombardments, was enormous. Squadrons at sea gave a 
double interest to the land operations; and the celebrated 
brothers Frederick and Ambrose Spinola founded their repu- 
tation on these opposing elements. Frederick was killed in 
one of the naval combats with the Dutch galleys, and the 
fame of reducing Ostend was reserved for Ambrose. This 
afterwards celebrated general had undertaken the command 
at the earnest entreaties of the archduke and the king of 
Spain, and by the firmness and vigor of his measures he re- 
vived the courage of the worn-out assailants of the place. 
Redoubled attacks and multiplied mines at length reduced 



1604. DEATH OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. IbO 

the town to a mere mass of ruin, and scarcely left its still 
undaunted garrison sufficient footing- on which to prolong 
their desperate defence. Ostend at length surrendered, on 
the 22d of September, 1604, and the victors marched in over 
its crumbled walls and shattered batteries. Scarcely a vestige 
of the place remained beyond those terrible evidences of 
destruction. Its ditches filled up with the rubbish of ramparts 
bastions, and redoubts, left no distinct line of separation be- 
tween the operations of its attack and its defence. It re- 
sembled rather a vast sepulchre than a ruined town, a moun- 
tain of earth and rubbish, without a single house in which 
the wretched remnant of the inhabitants could hide their 
heads — a monument of desolation on which victory might 
have sat and wept. 

During the progress of this memorable siege queen Eliza- 
beth of England had died, after a long and, it must be pro- 
nounced, a glorious reign ; though the glory belongs rather 
to the nation than to the monarch, whose memory is marked 
with indelible stains of private cruelty, as in the cases of 
Essex and Mary queen of Scots, and of public wrongs, as in 
that of her whole system of tyranny in Ireland. With re- 
spect to the United Provinces she was a harsh protectress 
and a capricious ally. She in turns advised them to remam 
faithful to the old impurities of religion and to their intolera- 
ble king ; refused to incorporate them with her own states ; 
and then used her best efforts for subjecting them to her 
sway. She seemed to take pleasure in the uncertainty to 
which she reduced them, by constant demands for payment 
of her loans, and threats of making peace with Spain. Thus 
the states-general were not much affected by the news of her 
death : and so rejoiced were they at the accession of James I. 
to the throne of England, that all the bells of Holland rang 
out merry peals; bonfires were set blazing all over the 
country; a letter of congratulation was dispatched to the 
new monarch ; and it was speedily followed by a solemn em- 
bassy, composed of prince Frederick Henry, the grand pen- 
sionary De Barne veldt, and others of the first dignitaries of 
the republic* These ambassadors were grievously disap- 
pointed at the reception given to them by James, who treated 
them as little better than rebels to their lawful king. But 
this first disjKDSition to contempt and insult was soon overcome 
by the united talents of Barneveldt and the great duke of 
Sully, who were at the same period ambassadors from France 
at the English court. The result of the negotiations was an 

* Cerisier, vol. iv. p. 495. 



186 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1605. 

agreement between those two powers to take the republic 
under their protection, and use their best efforts for obtaining- 
the recognition of its independence by Spain.* 

The states-general considered themselves amply recom- 
pensed for the loss of Ostend, by the taking of Ecluse, Rhyn- 
berg, and Grave, all of which had in the interval surrendered 
to prince Maurice ; but they were seriously alarmed on find- 
ing themselves abandoned by king James, who concluded a 
separate peace with Philip III. of Spain in the month of 
August this year.f 

This event gives rise to a question very important to the 
honor of James, and consequently to England itself, as the 
acts of the absolute monarchs of those days must be con- 
sidered as those of the nations which submitted to such a form 
of government. Historians of great authority^ have asserted 
that it appeared that, by a secret agreement, the king had ex- 
pressly reserved the power of sending assistance to Holland, 
Others deny the existence of this secret article ; and lean 
heavily on the reputation of James for his conduct in the 
transaction. 5 It must be considered a very doubtful point, 
and is to be judged rather by subsequent events than by any 
direct testimony. 

The two monarchs stipulated in the treaty that " neither 
was to give support of any kind to the revolted subjects of 
the other." It is nevertheless true that James did not with- 
draw his troops from the service of the states ; but he au- 
thorized the Spaniards to levy soldiers in England. The 
United Provinces were at once afflicted and indignant at this 
equivocal conduct. Their first impulse was to deprive the 
English of the liberty of navigating the Scheldt. They even 
arrested the progress of several of their merchant-ships. But 
soon after, gratified at finding that James received their 
deputy with the title of ambassador, they resolved to dissimu- 
late their resentment. 

Prince Maurice and Spinola now took the field with their 
respective armies ; and a rapid series of operations placing 
them in direct contact, displayed their talents in the most 
striking points of view. The first steps on the part of the 
prince were a new invasion of Flanders, and a.n attempt on 
Antwerp, which he hoped to carry before the Spanish army 
could arrive to its succor. But the promptitude and sagacity 
of Spinola defeated this plan, which Maurice was obliged to 
abandon after some loss ; while the royalist general resolved 

* Hume, vol. iv. p. 7. f Meteren. 

X Hume, vol. vi. p. 28. Rapin, t. vii. p. 38. § Cerisier, t. iv. pp. 510, 517. 



1005. NAVAL OrERATIONS. 187 

to signalize himself by some important movement, and, ere 
his design was suspected, lie had penetrated into the province 
of Overyssel, and thus retorted his rival's favorite measure 
of carrying the war into the enemy's country. Several towns 
were rapidly reduced ; but Maurice flew towards the threat- 
ened provinces, and by his active measures forced Spinola 
to fall back on the Rhine and take up a position near Roe- 
roord,* where he was impetuously attacked by the Dutch 
army. But the cavalry having followed up too slowly the 
orders of Maurice, his hope of surprising the royalists was 
frustrated ; and the Spanish forces, gaining time by this hesi- 
tation, soon changed the fortune of the day. The Dutch 
cavalry shamefully took to flight, despite the gallant endeavors 
of both Maurice and his brother Frederick Henry ; and at 
this juncture a large reinforcement of Spaniards arrived un- 
der the command of Velasco. Maurice now brought forward 
some companies of English and French infantry under Hora- 
tio Vere and D'Omerville, also a distinguished officer. The 
battle was again fiercely renewed ; and the Spaniards now 
gave way, and had been completely defeated, had not Spinola 
put in practice an old and generally successful stratagem. 
He caused almost all the drums of his army to beat in one 
direction, so as to give the impression that a still larger rein- 
forcement was approaching. Maurice, apprehensive that the 
former panic might find a parallel in a fresh one, prudently 
ordered a retreat, which he was able to effect in good order, 
in preference to risking the total disorganization of his troops. 
The loss on each side was nearly the same ; but the glory of 
this hard-fought day remained on the side of Spinola, who 
proved himself a worthy successor of the great duke of Parma, 
and an antagonist with whom Maurice might contend with- 
out dishonor.! 

The naval transactions of this year restored the balance 
which Spinola's successes had begun to turn in favor of the 
royalist cause. A squadron of ships, commanded by Hautain 
admiral of Zealand, attacked a superior force of Spanish ves- 
sels close to Dover, and defeated them with considerable 
loss. But the victory was sullied by an act of great barbari- 
ty. All the soldiers found on board the captured ships were 
tied two and two, and mercilessly flung into the sea. Some 
contrived to extricate themselves, and gained the shore by 
swimming; others were picked up by the English boats, 
whose crews witnessed the scene and hastened to their relief 
The generous British seamen could not remain neuter in 

* Grotius, lib. xiv. t Grotius, Hist. lib. .xiv. 



188 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1605. 

such a moment, nor repress their indig-nation against thoso 
whom they had hitherto so long considered as friends. The 
Dutch vessels pursuing those of Spain which fled into Dover 
harbor, were fired on by the cannon of the castle and forced 
to give up the chase. The English loudly complained that 
the Dutch had on this occasion violated their territory ; and 
this transaction laid the foundation of the quarrel which subse- 
quently broke out between England and the republic, and 
which the jealousies of rival merchants in either state un- 
ceasingly fomented. In this year also the Dutch succeeded 
in capturing the chief of the Dunkirk privateers, which had 
so long annoyed their trade ; and they cruelly ordered sixty 
of the prisoners to be put to death. Bat the people, more 
humane than the authorities, rescued them from the execu- 
tioners and set them free.* ^ 

But these domestic instances of success and inhumanity 
were trifling, in comparison with the splendid train of distant 
events, accompanied by a course of wholesale benevolence 
that redeemed the traits of petty guilt. The maritime enter- 
prises of Holland, forced by the imprudent policy of Spain to 
seek a wider career than in the narrow seas of Europe, were 
day by day extended in the Indies. To ruin if possible their 
increasing trade, Philip III, sent oat the admiral Hurtado, 
with a fleet of eight galleons and thirty-two galleys. The 
Dutch squadron of five vessels, commanded by Wolfert Her- 
manszoon, attacked them off" the coast of Malabar, and his 
temerity was crowned with great success. He took two of 
their vessels, and completely drove the remainder from the 
Indian seas. He then concluded a treaty with the natives 
of the isle of Banda, by which he promised to support them 
against the Spaniards and Portuguese, on condition that they 
were to give his fellow-countrymen the exclusive privilege 
of purchasing the spices of the island. This treaty was the 
foundation of the influence which the Dutch so soon succeed- 
ed in forming in the East Indies ; and they established it by 
a candid, mild, and tolerant conduct, strongly contrasted with 
the pride and bigotry which had signalized every act of the 
Portuguese and Spaniards. 

The prodigious success of the Indian trade occasioned 
numerous societies to be formed all through the republic. 
But by their great number they became at length injurious 
to each other. The spirit of speculation was pushed too far; 
and the merchants^ who paid enormous prices for India goods, 
found themselves forced to sell in Europe at a loss. Many 



1606. PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOLA. 189 

of those societies were too weak, in military force as well as 
in capital, to resist the armed competition of the Spaniards, 
and to support themselves in their disputes with the native 
princes. At length the states-general resolved to unite the 
whole of these scattered partnerships into one grand company, 
which was soon organized on a solid basis, that led ere-long 
to incredible wealth at home, and a rapid succession of con- 
quests in the East.* 



CHAP. XVI. 
1606—1619. 

TO THE SYNOD AT DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 

The states-general now resolved to confine their military 
operations to a war merely defensive. Spinola had, by his 
conduct during the late campaign, completely revived the 
spirits of the Spanish troops, and excited at least the caution 
of the Dutch. He now threatened the United Provinces with 
invasion ; and he exerted his utmost efforts to raise the sup- 
plies necessary for the execution of his plan. He not only 
exhausted the resources of the king of Spain and the arch- 
duke, but obtained money on his private account from all 
those usurers who were tempted by his confident anticipa- 
tions of conquest. He soon equipped two armies of about 
12,000 men each. At the head of one of those he took the 
field ; the other, commanded by the count of Bucquoi, was 
destined to join him in the neighborhood of Utrecht; and he 
was then resolved to push forward with the whole united 
force into the very heart of the republic. 

Prince Maurice in the mean time concentrated his army, 
amounting to 12,000 men, and prepared to make head against 
his formidable opponents. By a succession of the most pru- 
dent manoeuvres he contrived to keep Spinola in check, dis- 
concerted all his projects, and forced him to content himself 
with the capture of two or three towns — a comparatively in- 
significant conquest. Desiring to wipe away the disgrace 
of this discomfiture, and to risk every thing for the accom 
plishment of his grand design, Spmola used every method to 
provoke the prince to a battle, even though a serious mutiny 
among his troops, and the impossibility of forming a junction 
with Bucquoi, had reduced his force below that of Maurice ; 

* Richesse de la Hollande, t. i. p. 161, &c. 



190 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1607. 

but the latter, to the surprise of all who expected a decisive 
blow, retreated from before the Italian general — abandoning- 
the town of Groll, which immediately fell into Spinola's 
ix)wer, and giving rise to manifold conjectures and infinite 
discontent at conduct so little in unison with his wonted en- 
terprise and skill. Even Henry IV. aclmowledged it did not 
answer the expectation he had formed from Maurice's splen- 
did talents for war.* The fact seems to be, that the prince, 
much as he valued victory, dreaded peace more ; and that he 
was resolved to avoid a decisive blow, which, in putting an 
end to the contest, would at the same time have decreased 
the individual influence in the state, which his ambition now 
urged him to augment by every possible means. 

The Dutch naval expeditions this year were not more bril- 
liant than those on land. Admiral Hautain, with twenty 
ships, was surprised off Cape St. Vincent by the Spanish 
fleet. The formidable appearance of their galleons inspired 
on this occasion a perfect panic among the Dutch sailors. 
They hoisted their sails and fled, with the exception of one 
ship, commanded by vice-admiral Klaazoon, whose desperate 
conduct saved the national honor. Having' held out until liis 
vessel was quite unmanageable, and almost his whole crew 
killed or wounded, he prevailed on the rest to agree to the 
resolution he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting 
up a brief prayer for pardon for the act, thrust a light into 
the powder-magazine, and was instantly blown up with his 
companions. Only two men were snatched from the sea by 
the Spaniards ; and even tliese, dreadfully burnt and man- 
gled, died in the utterance of curses on the enemy.f 

This disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten 
in the rejoicings for a brilliant victory gained the following 
year by Heemskirk, so celebrated for his voyage to Nova 
Zembla, and by his conduct in the East. He set sail from 
the ports of Holland in the month of March, determined to 
signalize himself by some great exploit, now necessary to re- 
deem the disgrace which had begun to sully the reputation 
of the Dutch navy. He soon got intelligence that the Spanish 
fleet lay at anchor in the bay of Gibraltar, and he speedily 
prepared to offer them battle. Before the combat began he 
held a council of war, and addressed the officers in an ener- 
getic speech, in which he displayed the imperative call on 
their valor to conquer or die in the approaching conflict. He 
led on to the action in his own sliip ; and, to the astonishment 
of both fleets, he bore right down against the enormous gal- 

* Sully's Mem. t. iii f Cerisier. 



1607. NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 191 

leon in which the flag of the Spanish admiral in chief v/as 
hoisted. D'Avila could scarcely believe the evidence of his 
eyes at this audacity : he at first burst into laughter at the 
notion ; but as Heeniskirk approached, he cut his cables and 
attempted to escape under the shelter of the town. The 
heroic Dutcliman pursued him through the whole of the 
Spanish fleet, and soon forced him to action. At the second 
broadside Heemskirk had his left leg carried ofl'bya cannon- 
ball, and he almost instantly died, exhorting his crew to seek 
for consolation in the defeat of the enemy. Verhoef, the 
captain of the ship, concealed the admiral's death ; and the 
whole fleet continued the action with a valor worthy the 
spirit in which it was commenced. The victory was soon 
decided : four of the Spanish galleons were sunk or burned, 
the remainder fled ; and the citizens of Cadiz trembled with 
the apprehension of sack and pillage. But the death of 
Heemskirk, when made known to the surviving victors, 
seemed completely to paralyze them : they attempted nothing 
further ; but sailing back to Holland with the body of their 
lamented chief, thus paid a greater tribute to his importance 
than was to be found in the mausoleum erected to his memory 
in the city of Amsterdam.* 

The news of this battle reaching Brussels before it was 
loiown in Holland, contributed not a little to quicken the 
anxiety of the archdukes for peace. The king of Spain, 
worn out by the war which drained his treasury, had for 
some time ardently desired it. The Portuguese made loud 
complaints of the ruin that threatened their trade and their 
East Indian colonies.f The Spanish ministers were fatigued 
with the apparently interminable contest which baflled all 
their calculations.! Spinoja, even in the midst of his bril- 
liant career, found himself so overv/helmed with debts, and 
so oppressed by the reproaches of the numerous creditors 
who were ruined by his default of payment, that he joined in 
the g-eneral demand for repose. § In the month of May, 1607, 
proposals Vv^ere made by the archdukes, in compliance with 
the general desire ; and their two plenipotentiaries. Van 
Wittenhorst and Gevaerts, repaired to the Hague. 

Public opinion in the United States was divided on this 
important question. An instinctive hatred against the Span- 
iards, and long habits of warfare, influenced the great mass 
of the people to consider any overture for peace as some wily 
artifice aimed at their religion and liberty. War seemed to 
open inexhaustible sources of wealth ; while peace seemed 

* Vandervynct. TGrotius. J Bentivoglio § Cerisier. 



192 HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLANDS. 1608 

to threaten the extinction of the courage, which was now as 
much a habit as war appeared to be a want. This reasoning 
was particularly convincing to prince Maurice, whose fame, 
with a large portion of his authority and revenues, depended 
on the continuance of hostilities : it was also strongly relish- 
ed and supported in Zealand generally, and in the chief towns, 
which dreaded the rivalry of Antwerp. But those who bore 
the burden of the war saw the subject under a different as- 
pect :* they feared that the present state of things would lead 
to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of their liberty 
by the growing power of Maurice. They hoped that peace 
would consolidate the republic and cause the reduction of the 
debt, which now amounted to 26,000,000 florins. At the 
head of the party who so reasoned was De Barneveldt ; and 
his name is a guarantee with posterity for the wisdom of the 
opinion. 

To allow the violent opposition to subside, and to prevent 
any explosion of party feuds, the prudent Barneveldt sug- 
gested a mere suspension of arms, during which the perma- 
nent interests of both states might be calmly discussed : he 
even undertook to obtain Maurice's consent to the armistice. 
The prince listened to his arguments, and was apparently 
convinced by them. He, at any rate, sanctioned the propo- 
sal ; but he afterwards complained that Barneveldt had de- 
ceived him, in representing the negotiation as a feint for the 
purpose of persuading the kings of France and England to 
give greater aid to the republic.-}- It is more than likely that 
Maurice reckoned on the improbability of Spain's consenting 
to the terms of the proposed treaty ; and, on that chance, 
withdrew an opposition which could scarcely be ascribed to 
any but motives of personal ambitjon. It is, however, certain 
that his discontent at this transaction, either with himself or 
Barneveldt, laid the foundation of that bitter enmity which 
proved fatal to the life of the latter, and covered his own 
name, otherwise glorious, with undying" reproach. 

The United Provinces positively refused to admit even the 
commencement of a negotiation without the absolute recog- 
nition of their independence by the archdukes. A new am- 
bassador was accordingly chosen on the part of these sove- 
reigns, and empowered to concede this important admission. 
This person attracted considerable attention, from his well- 
known qualities as an able diplomatist. He was a monk of 
the order of St, Francis, named John de Neyen, a native of 
Antwerp, and a person as well versed in court intrigue as in 

* Beiitivoglio. t Cerisier. 



16U8. ASSEMBLY OF AMEASSADOKS, 193 

the studies of the cloister. He, in the first instance, repaired 
secretly to the Hague ; and had several private interviews 
with prince Maurice and Barneveldt, before he was regularly- 
introduced to the states-general in his official character. Two 
different journeys were undertaken by this agent between the 
Hague and Brussels, before he could succeed in obtaining a 
perfect understanding as to the specific views of the arch- 
dukes. The suspicions of the states-general seem fully jus- 
tified by the dubious tone of the various communications, 
which avoided the direct admission of the required prelimi- 
nary as to the independence of the United Provinces. It was 
at length concluded in explicit terms ; and a suspension of 
arms for eight months was the immediate consequence. 

But the negotiation for peace was on the point of being 
completely broken, in consequence of the conduct of Neyen, 
who justified every doubt of his sincerity by an attempt to 
corrupt Aarsens the greffier of the states-general, or at least 
to influence his conduct in the progress of the treaty. Neyen 
presented him, in the name of the archdukes, and as a token 
of his esteem, with a diamond of great value and a bond for 
50,000 crowns. Aarsens accepted these presents with the 
approbation of prince Maurice, to whom he had confided the 
circumstance, and who was no doubt delighted at what prom- 
ised a rupture to the negotiations. Verreiken, a counsellor 
of state, who assisted Neyen in his diplomatic labors, was 
formally summoned before the assembled states-general, and 
there Barneveldt handed to him the diamond and the bond ; 
and at the same time read him a lecture of true republican se- 
verity on the subject. Verreiken was overwhelmed by the 
violent attack: he denied the authority of Neyen for the 
measure he had taken ; and remarked, " that it was not sur- 
prising that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged 
others by themselves."* This repudiation of Neyen's suspi- 
cious conduct, seems to have satisfied the stern resentment 
of Barneveldt, and the party which so earnestly labored for 
peace. In spite of all the opposition of Maurice and his par- 
tisans, the negotiation went on. 

In the month of January, 1608, the various ambassadors 
were assembled at the Hague. Spinola was the chief of the 
plenipotentaries appointed by the king of Spain ; and Jean- 
nin, president of the parliament of Dijon, a man of rare en- 
dowments, represented France. Prince Maurice, accompa- 
nied by his brother Frederick Henry, the various counts of 
Nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort, advanced some 



* Jeaiinin, vol. i. pp. 302. 343. 

1:^ 



194 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1608. 

distance to meet Spinola, conveyed him to the Hague hi his 
own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions recipro- 
cally due between two such renowned captains during- the 
suspension of their rivalry. The president Richardst was, 
with Neyen and Verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes ; 
but Barneveldt* and Jeannin appear to have played the chief 
parts in the important transaction which now filled all Eu- 
rope with anxiety. Every state was more or less concerned 
in the result ; and the three great monarchies of England, 
France, and Spain, had all a vital interest at stake. The 
conferences were therefore frequent ; and the debates assum- 
ed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized 
world in suspense. 

Kmg James was extremely jealous of the more prominent 
part taken by the French ambassadors, and of the subaltern 
consideration held by his ov/n envoys, Winwood and Spen- 
cer, in consequence of the disfavor in which he himself was 
held by the Dutch people. It appears evident that, whether 
deservedly or the contrary, England was at this period un- 
popular in the United Provinces, while France was looked up 
to with the greatest enthusiasm. This is not surprising, when 
we compare the characters of Henry IV. and James I., bear- 
ing in mind how much of national reputation at the time de- 
pended on the personal conduct of kings ; and how political 
situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues and 
vices of a people. Independent of the suspicions of his being 
altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the 
United Provinces from Spain, to which James's conduct had 
given rise, he had established some exactions which greatly 
embarrassed their fishing expeditions on the coasts of Eng- 
land. 

The main points for discussion, and on which depended the 
decision for peace or war, were those which concerned reli- 
gion ; and the demand, on the part of Spain, that the United 
Provinces should renounce all claims to the navigation of the 
Indian seas.f Philip required for the Catholics of the United 
Provinces the free exercise of their religion; this was op- 
posed by the states-general : and the archduke Albert, seeing 
the impossibility of carrying that point, dispatched his con- 
fessor Era Inigo de Briznella, to Spain. This Dominican wa 
furnished with the written opinion of several theologians, tha 
the king might conscientiously slur over the article of reli- 
gion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as the 
duke of Lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accom- 



Vandervynct. \ Idem, 



1608. CONGRESS AT THE HAGUE. 195 

plish the peace at any price.* The conferences at the Hague 
were therefore not interrupted on this question ; but they 
went on slowly, months being- consumed in discussions on 
articles of trifling importance. They were, however, re- 
sumed in the month of August with greater vigor. It was 
announced that the king of Spain abandoned the question 
respecting religion ; but that it was in the certainty that his 
moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions on 
that of the Indian trade, on which he was inexorable. This 
article became the rock on which the whole negotiation 
eventually split. The court of Spain, on the one hand, and 
the states-general on the other, inflexibly maintained their 
opposing claims. It was in vain that the ambassadors turned 
and twisted the subject with all the subtleties of diplomacy. 
Every possible expedient was used to shake the determina- 
tion of the Dutch. But the influence of the East India com- 
pany, the islands of Zealand, and the city of Amsterdam, 
prevailed over all. Reports of the avowal on the part of the 
king of Spain, that he would never renounce his title to the 
sovereignty of the United Provinces, unless they abandoned 
the Indian navigation, and granted the free exercise of reli- 
gion, threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion ; and 
on the 25th of August, the states-general announced to the 
marquis of Spinola and the other ambassadors, that the con- 
gress was dissolved, and that all hopes of peace were aban- 
doned.! 

Nothing seemed now likely to prevent the immediate re- 
newal of hostilities, when the ambassadors of France and 
England proposed the mediation of their respective masters 
for the conclusion of a truce for several years. The king of 
Spain and the archdukes were well satisfied to obtain even 
this temporary cessation of the war ; but prince Maurice and 
a portion of the Provinces strenuously opposed the proposi- 
tion. The French and English ambassadors, however, in 
concert with Barneveldt, who steadily maintained his influ- 
ence, labored incessantly to overcome those difficulties ; and 
finally succeeded in overpowering all opposition to the truce. 
A new congress was agreed on, to assemble at Antwerp for 
the consideration of the conditions ; and the states-general 
agreed to remove from the Hague to Bergen-op-Zoom, to be 
more within reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotia- 
tion. 

But, before matters assumed this favorable turn, discus- 
sions and disputes had intervened on several occasions to 

* Vandervynct. \ Grotius, lib. xvii. p. 548. 



196 HISTORY OF THE NETHEELAIVDS. 1609. 

render fruitless every effort of those who so incessantly la- 
bored for the great causes of humanity and the general good. 
On one occasion, Barneveldt, disgusted with the opposition 
of prince Maurice and his partisans, had actually resigned 
his employments ; but brought back by the solicitations of the 
states-general, and reconciled to Maurice by the intervention 
of Jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were resumed ; 
and, under the auspices of the ambassadors, they were hap- 
pily terminated. After two years' delay, this long wished for 
truce was concluded, and signed on the 9th of April, 1609, to 
continue for the space of twelve years.* 

This celebrated treaty contained thirty-tv/o articles ; and 
its fulfilment on either side was guarantied by the kings of 
France and England. Notwithstanding the time taken up in 
previous discussions, the treaty is one of the most vague and 
unspecific state papers that exist. The archdukes, in their 
own names and in that of the king of Spain, declared the Uni- 
ted Provinces to be free and independent states, on which 
they renounced all claim whatever. By the third article 
each party was to hold respectively the pla,ces which they 
possessed at the commencement of the armistice. The fourth 
and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a phraseology 
obscure and even doubtful, the right of navigation and free 
trade to the Indies. The eighth contains all that regards the 
exercise of religion ; and the remaining clauses are wholly 
relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations, 
and matters of private interest.f 

Ephemeral and temporary as this peace appeared, it was 
received with almost universal demonstrations of joy by the 
population of the Netherlands in their two grand divisions. 
Every one seemed to turn towards the enjoyment of tranquil- 
lity with the animated composure of tired laborers looking 
forward to a day of rest and sunshine. This truce brought a 
calm of comparative happiness upon the country, which an 
almost unremitting tempest had desolated for nearly half a 
century ; and, after so long a series of calamity, all the na- 
tional advantages of social life seemed about to settle on the 
land. The attitude which the United Provinces assumed at 
this period was indeed a proud one. They were not now 
compelled to look abroad and solicit other states to become 
their masters. They had forced their old tyrants to acknow- 
. ledge their independence ; to come and ask for peace on their 
own ground ; and to treat with them on terms of no doubtful 
equality. They had already become so flourishing, so powerful, 

* Jeannin. Grotius Bentivoglio. Vandervynct. f Vandervynct. 
\ 



1610. DISPUTED SUCCESSION. 197 

and so envied, that they who had so lately excited but com- 
passion from the neighboring states were now regarded with 
such jealousy as rivals, unequivocally equal, may justly in- 
spire in each other. 

The ten southern provinces, now confirmed under the sove- 
reignty of the house of Austria, and from this period generally 
distinguished by the name of Belgium, immediately began, 
like the northern division of the country, to labor for the great 
object of repairing the dreadful sufferings caused by their long 
and cruel war. Their success was considerable. Albert and 
Isabella, their sovereigns, joined to considerable probity of 
character and talents for government, a fund of humanity 
which led them to unceasing acts of benevolence. The whole 
of their dominions quickly began to recover from the ravages 
of war. Agriculture and the minor operations of trade re- 
sumed all their wonted activity. But the manufactures of 
Flanders were no more ; and the grander exercise of com- 
merce seemed finally removed to Amsterdam and the other 
chief towns of Holland.* 

This tranquil course of prosperity in the Belgian provinces 
was only once mterrupted during the whole continuance of 
the twelve years' truce, and that was in the year following 
its commencement. The death of the duke of Cleves and 
Juliers, in this year, gave rise to serious disputes for the suc- 
cession to his states, which was claimed by several of the 
princes of Germany. The elector of Brandenburg and the 
duke of Neubourg were seconded both by France and the 
United Provinces; and a joint army of both nations, com- 
manded by prince Maurice and the marshal de la Chatre, was 
marched into the county of Cleves. f After taking possession 
of the town of Juliers, the allies retired, leaving the two 
princes above mentioned in a partnership possession of the 
disputed states. But this joint sovereignty did not satisfy the 
ambition of either, and serious divisions arose between them, 
each endeavoring to strengthen himself by foreign alliances. 
The archdukes Albert and Isabella were drawn into the quar- 
rel ; and they dispatched Spinola at the head of 20,000 men 
to support the duke of Neubourg, whose pretensions they 
countenanced. Prince Maurice, with a Dutch army, ad- 
vanced on the other hand to uphold the claims of the elector 
of Brandenburg. Both generals took possession of several 
tovvTis ; and this double expedition offered the sing-ular specta- 
cle of two opposing armies, acting in different interests, 
making conquests, and dividing an important inheritance, 

* Vandervynct t Meteren. 



198 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1610 

without the occurrence of one act of hostility to each other.''" 
But the interference of the court of Madrid had nearly been 
the cause of a new rupture. The greatest alarm was excited 
in the Belgic provinces ; and nothing' but the prudence of the 
archdukes and the forbearance of the states-general could 
have succeeded in averting the threatened evil. 

With the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the 
United Provinces presented for the space of twelve years a 
long-continued picture of peace, as the term is generally re- 
ceived ; but a peace so disfigured by intestine troubles, and 
so stained by actions of despotic cruelty, that the period which 
should have been that of its greatest happiness becomes but 
an example of its worst disgrace. 

The assassination of Henry IV., in the year 1609, was a 
new instance of the bigoted atrocity which reigned paramount 
in Europe at the time ; and whilst robbing France of one of 
its best monarchs, it deprived the United Provinces of their 
truest and most powerful friend. Henry has, from his own 
days to the present, found a ready eulogy in all who value 
kings in proportion as they are distinguished by heroism, 
without ceasing to evince the feelings of humanity. Henry 
seems to have gone as far as man can go, to combine wisdom, 
dignity, and courage, with all those endearing qualities of 
private life which alone give men a prominent hold upon the 
sympathies of their kind. We acknowledge his errors, his 
faults, his follies, only to love him the better. We admire 
his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or 
disgusted by profusion. We look on his greatness without 
envy ; and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand 
in hand beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the 
footsteps of a mighty monarch. 

But the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for 
freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a 
trifling calamity to the United Provinces, in comparison with 
the rapid fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhib- 
ited in the conduct of their own domestic champion. It had 
been well for prince Maurice of Nassau that the last shot 
fired by the defeated Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport had 
struck him dead in the moment of his greatest victory, and 
on the summit of his fame. From that celebrated day he had 
performed no deed of w^ar that could raise his reputation as a 
soldier, and all his acts as stadtholder were calculated to sink 
him below the level of civil virtue and just government. His 
two campaigns against Spinola had redounded more to the 

* Relazione del Card. Bentivoglio. 



1810. RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 199 

credit of his rival tjian to his own ; and his whole conduct 
during the negotiation for the truce too plainly betrayed the 
unworthy nature of his ambition, founded on despotic princi- 
ples. It was his misfortune to have been completely thrown 
out of the career for which he had been designed by nature 
and education. War was his element. By his genius, he 
improved it as a science : by his valor, he was one of those 
who raised it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity 
of a passion. But when removed from the camp to the coun- 
cil-room, he became all at once a common man. His frank- 
ness degenerated into roughness ; his decision into despotism ; 
his courage into cruelty. He gave a new proof of the melan- 
choly fact, that circumstances may transform the most appa- 
rent qualities of virtue into those opposite vices between 
which human wisdom is baffled when it attempts to draw a 
decided and invariable line. 

Opposed to Maurice in almost every one of his acts was, 
as we have already seen, Barneveldt, one of the truest pa- 
triots of any time or country ; and, with the exception of 
William the great prince of Orange, the most eminent citi- 
zen to whom the affairs of the Netherlands have given cele- 
brity. A hundred pens have labored to do honor to this truly 
virtuous man.* His greatness has found a record in every 
act of his life ; and his death, like that of William, though 
differently accomplished was equally a martyrdom for the 
liberties of his country. We cannot enter minutely into the 
train of circumstances which for several years brought Mau- 
rice and Barneveldt into perpetual concussion with each other. 
Long after the completion of the truce, which the latter so 
mainly aided in accomplishing, every minor point in the 
domestic affairs of the republic seemed merged in the conflict 
between the stadtholder and the pensionary. Without at- 
tempting to specify these, we may say generally, that almost 
every one redounded to the disgrace of the prince and the 
honor of the patriot. But the main question of agitation was 
the fierce dispute which soon broke out between two profes- 
sors of theology of the university of Leyden, Francis Gomar 
and James Arminius. We do not regret ©n this occasion that 
our confined limits spare us the task of recording in detail 
controversies on points of speculative doctrine far beyond the 
reach of the human understanding, and therefore presumptu- 
ous, and the decision of which cannot be regarded as of vital 
importance by those who justly estimate the grand principles 
of Christianity. The whole strength of the intellects which 

* Aubery, Mem. Cerisier, &c. 



200 HISTORY 01' THE I\-KTH!:;iiLA X DS. J (j J "J 

Jiad long been engaged in the conflict for national and reli- 
gious liberty, was now directed to metaphysical theology, and 
wasted upon interminable disputes about predestination and 
grace. Barneveldt enrolled himself among the partisans of 
Arminius ; Maurice became a Gomarist. 

It was, however, scarcely to be wondered at, that a country 
so recently delivered from slavery both in church and state 
should run into wild excesses of intolerance, before sectarian 
principles were thoroughly understood and definitively fixed. 
Persecutions of various kinds were indulged in against Papists, 
Anabaptists, Socinians, and all the shades of doctrine into 
which Christianity had split. Every minister who, in the 
milder spirit of Lutheranism, strove to moderate the rage of 
Calvinistic enthusiasm, was openly denounced by its par- 
tisans ; and one, named Gaspard Koolhaas, was actually ex- 
communicated by a synod, and denounced in plain terms to 
the devil.* Arminius had been appointed professor at Leyden 
in 1603, for the mildness of his doctrines, which were joined 
to most affable manners, a happy temper, and a purity of con- 
duct which no calumny could successfully traduce.f 

His colleague Gomar, a native of Bruges, learned, violent, 
and rigid in sectarian points, soon became jealous of the more 
popular professor's influence. A furious attack on the latter 
was answered by recrimination ; and the whole battery of 
theological authorities was reciprocally discharged by one or 
other of the disputants. The states-general interfered be- 
tween them : they were summoned to appear before the 
council of state ; and grave politicians listened for hours to 
the dispute. Arminius obtained the advantage, by the ap- 
parent reasonableness of his creed, and the gentleness and 
moderation of his conduct. He was meek, while Gomar was 
furious ; and many of the listeners declared that they would 
rather die with the charity of the former than in the faith of the 
latter. A second hearing was allowed them before the states 
of Holland. Again Arminius took the lead ; and the contro- 
versy went on unceasingly, till this amiable man, worn out 
by his exertions and^the presentiment of the evil which these 
disputes were engendering for his country, expired in his 
49th year, piously persisting in his opinions.| 

The Gomarists now loudly called for a national synod, to 
regulate the points of faith. The Arminians remonstrated on 
various grounds, and thus acquired the name of Remonstrants, 
by which they were soon generally distinguished. The most 
deplorable contests ensued. Serious riots occurred in several 

* Brandt. Hist, du Reform. f Bayle, art. Arminius. 

I Dert. Orat. funeb. 



1616. ARMINTANS AND GOMARTSTS. 2{)1 

of the towns of Holland ; and James I. of England could not 
resist the temptation of entering" the polemical lists, as a 
champion of orthodoxy and a decided Gomarist. His hostility 
was chiefly directed against Vorstius, the successor and dis- 
ciple of Arminins. He pretty strongly recommended to the 
states-general to have him burned for heresy.* His inveterate 
intolerance knew no hounds; and it completed the melan- 
choly picture of absurdity which the whole affair presents to 
reasonable minds.f 

In this dispute, which occupied and agitated all, it was im- 
possible that Barne veldt should not choose the congenial 
temperance and toleration of Arminius. Maurice, with pro- 
bably no distinct conviction, or much interest in the abstract 
differences on either side, joined the Gomarists.l His motives 
were purely temporal ; for the party he espoused was now 
decidedly as much political as religious. King James re- 
w^arded him by conferring on him the riband of the order of 
the Garter, vacant by the death of Henry IV. of France. § 
The ceremony of investment was performed with great pomp 
by the English ambassador at the Hague ; and James and 
Maurice entered from that time into a closer and more unin- 
terrupted correspondence than before. 1| 

During the long continuance of the theological disputes, 
the United Provinces had nevertheless made rapid strides 
towards commercial greatness ; and the year 1616 witnessed 
the completion of an affair which was considered the consoli- 
dation of their independence. This important matter was the 
recovery of the towns of Brille and Flessingue, and the fort 
of Rammekins, which had been placed in the hands of the 
English as security for the loan granted to the republic by 
queen Elizabeth. The whole merit of the transaction was 
due to the perseverance and address of Barneveldt acting on 
the weakness and the embarrassments of king' James. Reli- 
gious contention did not so fully occupy Barneveldt, but that 
he kept a constant eye on political concerns. He was well 
informed on all that passed in the English court : he kne-w 
the wants of James, and was aware of his efforts to bring 
about the marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain. The 
danger of such an alliance was evident to the penetrating 
Barneveldt, who saw in perspective the probability of the 
wily Spaniard's obtaining from the English monarch posses- 

* King James's Works, p. 355. 

t See James's letter to the states-general ; Mercure Francais, t. xi. pp. 460. 
470. 
X Cerisier, t. v. p. 75, &;c. § Rapin, lib. xviii. p. 74. 

ULauriers de Nassau. 



202 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1616. 

sioii of the strong- places in question. He therefore resolved 
on obtaining their recovery ; and his great care was to get 
them back v^ith a considerable abatement of the enormous 
debt for which they stood pledged, and which now amounted 
to 8,000,000 florins.* 

Barneveldt commenced his operations by sounding the 
needy monarch through the medium of Noel Caron, the am- 
bassador from the states-general ; and he next managed so as 
that James himself should offer to give up the towns, thereby 
allowing a fair pretext to the states for claiming a diminution 
of the debt. The English garrisons were unpaid ; and their 
complaints brought down a strong remonstrance from James, 
and excuses from the states, founded on the poverty of their 
financial resources. The negotiation rapidly went on, in the 
same spirit of avidity on the part of the king, and of good 
management on that of his debtors. It was finally agreed 
that the states should pay in full of the demand 2,728,000 
florins (about 250,000/. sterling,) being about one-third of the 
debt. Prince Maurice repaired to the cautionary towns in 
the month of June, and received them at the hands of the 
English governors ; the garrisons at the same time entering 
into the service of the republic! 

The accomplishment of this measure afforded the highest 
satisfaction to the United States. It caused infinite discon- 
tent in England ; and James, with the common injustice of 
men who make a bad bargain, (even though its conditions be 
of their own seeking, and suited to their own convenience,) 
turned his own self-dissatisfaction into bitter hatred against 
him whose watchful integrity had successfully labored for his 
country's good. Barneveldt's leaning towards France and 
the Arminians filled the measure of James's unworthy enmi- 
ty. | Its effects were soon apparent, on the arrival at the 
Hague of Carleton, who succeeded Win wood as James's am- 
bassador. The haughty pretensions of this diplomatist, whose 
attention seemed turned to theological disputes rather than 
politics, gave great disgust ; and he contributed not a little 
to the persecution which led to the tragical end of Barne- 
veldt's valuable life.§ 

While this indefatigable patriot was busy in relieving his 
country from its dependence on England, his enemies accused 
him of the wish to reduce it once more to Spanish tyranny 
Francis Aarsens, son to him who proved himself so incorrupti- 
ble wJien attempted to be bribed by Neyen, was one of the 

* Cerisier. 

t Caileton's Mem. vol. i. p. 57, &c. Hume, vol. viii. p. 82. 

i Cabala, i. J80. § Cerisier, t. v. p. 196 



1616. MAURICE INTRIGUES FOR REGAL POWER. 203 

foremost of the faction who now labored for the downfall of 
the pensionary. He was a man of infinite dissimulation ; 
versed in all the intrigues of courts ; and so deep in all their 
tortuous tactics, that cardinal Richelieu, well qualified to 
prize that species of talent, declared that he knew only three 
great political geniuses, of whom Francis Aarsens was one.* 

Prince Maurice now almost openly avowed his pretensions 
to absolute sovereignty : he knew that his success wholly 
depended on the consent of Barneveldt. To seduce him to 
favor his designs, he had recourse to the dowager princess of 
Orange, his mother-in-law, whose gentle character and ex- 
emplary conduct had procured her universal esteem, and the 
influence naturally attendant on it. Maurice took care to 
make her understand that her interest in his object was not 
trifling. Long time attached to Gertrude van Mechlen, his 
favorite mistress, who had borne him several children, he 
now announced his positive resolution to remain unmarried ; 
so that his brother Frederick Henry, the dowager's only son^. 
would be sure to succeed to the sovereignty he aimed at. 
The princess, not insensible to this appeal, followed the in- 
structions of Maurice, and broached the affair to Barneveldt ; 
but he was inexorable. He clearly explained to her the peril- 
ous career on which the prince proposed to enter. He showed 
how great, how independent, how almost absolute, he might 
continue, without shocking the principles of republicanism 
by grasping at an empty dignity, which could not virtually 
increase his authority, and would most probably convulse 
the state to its foundation, and lead to his own ruin. The 
princess, convinced by his reasoning, repaired to Mau- 
rice; but instead of finding him as ready a convert as she 
herself had been, she received as cold an answer as was com- 
patible with a passionate temper, wounded pride, and disap- 
pointed ambition. The princess and Barneveldt recounted 
the whole aflfair to Maurier the French ambassador ; and his 
son has transmitted it to posterity.! 

We cannot follow the misguided prince in all the winding 
ways of intrigue and subterfuge through which he labored to 
reach his object. Religion, the holiest of sentiments, and 
Christianity, the most sacred of its forms, were perpetually 
degraded by being made the pretexts for that unworthy ob- 
ject. He was for a while diverted from its direct pursuit by 
the preparation made to afford assistance to some of the allies 
of the republic. Fifty thoxisand florms a month were granted 
to the duke of Savoy, who was at war with Spain ;| and 

* Cerisier f Auliery dii Maurier'p Memoiip. J Caiieton, vol. i. p. 324. 



204 HISTOIiY or THE NETHERLANDS. 1617. 

7000 men, with nearly forty ships, were dispatched to the 
aid of the republic of Venice, in its contest with Ferdinand 
archduke of Gratz, who was afterwards elected emperor. 
The honorary empire of the seas seems at this time to have 
been successfully claimed by the United Provinces : they 
paid back with interest the haughty conduct with which they 
had been long- treated by the English ;* and they refused to 
pay the fishery duties to which the inhabitants of Great Brit- 
ain were subject. The Dutch sailors had even the temerity, 
under pretext of pursuing pirates, to violate the British terri- 
tory : they set fire to the town of Crookhaven, in Ireland, 
and massacred several of the inhabitants. King James, im- 
mersed in theological studies, appears to have passed slightly 
over this outrage. f More was to have been expected from 
his usual attention to the affairs of Ireland ; his management 
of which ill-fated country, is the best feature of his political 
character, and ought, to Irish feelings at least, to be consider- 
ed to redeem its many errors. But he took fire at the news 
that the states had prohibited the importation of cloth dyed 
and dressed in England. It required the best exertion of 
Barneveldt's talents to pacify him ; and it was not easy to 
effect this through the jaundiced medium of the ambassador 
Carleton. But it was unanswerably argued by the pensiona- 
ry, that the manufacture of cloth was one of those ancient 
and natural sources of wealth which England had ravished 
from the Netherlands, and which the latter was justified in 
recovering by every effort consistent with national honor and 
fair principles of government.^ 

The influence of Prince Maurice had gained complete suc- 
cess for the Calvinist party, in its various titles of Gomarists, 
non-remonstrants, (fee. The audacity and violence of these 
ferocious sectarians knew no bounds. Outrages, too many to 
enumerate, became common through the country ; and Ar- 
minianism was on all sides assailed and persecuted. Barne- 
veldt frequently appealed to Maurice without effect ; and all 
the efforts of the former to obtain justice by means of the 
civil authorities were paralyzed by the inaction in which the 
prince retained the military force. In this juncture, the 
magistrates of various towns, spurred on by Barne veldt, call- 
ed out the national militia, termed Waardegelders, which pos 
sessed the right of arming at its own expense for the protec 
tion of the public peace. Schism upon schism was the con 
sequence, and the whole country was reduced to that state 
of anarchy so favorable to the designs of an ambitious soldier 

* Carleton's Mem. vol. i. p. 280 j Idem, vol. j p. 110, &:c I Carleton 

\ 



1618. • SYNOD AT DORT. 205 

already in the enjoyment of almost absolute power. Maurice 
possessed all the hardihood and vigor suited to such an occa- 
sion. At the head of two companies of infantry, and accom- 
panied by his brother Frederick Henry, he suddenly set out 
at nig'Jit from the Hague ; arrived at the Brille ; and in de- 
fiance of the remonstrances of the magistrates, and in viola- 
tion ot the rights of the town, he placed his devoted garrison 
in that important place.* To justify this measure, reports 
were spread that Barneveldt intended to deliver it up to the 
Spaniards ; and the ignorant, insensate, and ungrateful peo- 
ple swallowed the calunmy.f 

This and such minor efforts were, however, all subservient 
to the one grand object of utterly destroying, by a public 
proscription, the whole of the patriot party, now identified 
with Arminianism. A national synod was loudly clamored 
for by the Gnmarists ; and in spite of all opposition on consti- 
tutional grounds, it was finally proclaimed. Uitenbogaard, 
the enlightened pastor and friend of Maurice, who on all occa- 
sions labored for the general good, now moderated, as much 
as possible, the violence of either party : but he could not 
persuade Barneveldt to render himself, by compliance, a tacit 
accomplice with a measure that he conceived fraught with 
violence to the public privileges. He had an inflexible enemy 
in Carleton the English ambassador. His interference carried 
the question ; and it was at his suggestion that Dordrecht, or 
Dort, was chosen for the assembling of the synod.l Du Mau- 
rier, the French ambassador, acted on all occasions as a me- 
diator ;§ but to obtain influence at such a time it was neces- 
sary to become a partisan. Several towns, — Ley den, Gouda, 
Rotterdam, and some others, — made a last effort for their 
liberties, and formed a fruitless confederation. 

Barneveldt solicited the acceptance of his resignation of 
all his offices. The states-general implored him not to aban- 
don the country at such a critical moment : he consequently 
maintained his post. Libels the most vindictive and atrocious 
were published and circulated against him ; and at last, forced 
from his silence by these multiplied calumnies, he put for- 
ward his " Apology," addressed to the States of Holland. 

This dignified vindication only produced new outrages ; 
Maurice, now become prince of Orange by the death of his 
elder brother without children, employed his whole authority 
to carry his object, and crush Barneveldt. At the head of his 
troops he seized on towns, displaced magistrates, trampled 

* Grot. Apol. p. 249. f Cerisier. 

fCarleton'sMem. vol. i § Aubery, Mem art. Maurier. 



I 



206 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1619 

under foot all the ancient privileges of the citizens, and openly 
announced his intention to overthrow the federative constitu- 
tion.* His bold conduct completely terrified the states-general. 
They thanked him ; they consented to disband the militia ; 
formally invited foreign powers to favor and protect the synod 
about to be held at Dort. The return of Carleton from Eng- 
and, where he had gone to receive the more positive prom- 
ses of support from king James, was only wanting, to decide 
Maurice to take the final step ;f and no sooner did the am- 
bassador arrive at the Hague, than Barneveldt and his most 
able friends, Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and Ledenberg, were ar- 
rested in the name of the states-general.| 

The country was taken by surprise : no resistance was of- 
fered. The concluding scenes of the tragedy were hurried 
on : violence was succeeded by violence, against public feel- 
ing and public justice. Maurice became completely absolute 
in every thing but in name. The supplications of ambassa- 
dors, the protests of individuals, the arguments of statesmen, 
were alike unavailing to stop the torrent of despotism and m- 
justice. The synod of Dort was opened on the 13th of No- 
vember, 1618. Theology was mystified ; religion disgraced ; 
Christianity outraged. And after 152 sittings, during six 
months' display of ferocity and fraud, the solemn mockery 
was closed on the 9th of May, 1619, by the declaration of its 
president, that " its miraculous labors had made hell tremble."^ 

Proscriptions, banishments, and death, were the natural 
consequences of this synod. The divisions which it had pro- 
fessed to extinguish were rendered a thousand times more 
violent than before. Its decrees did incalculable ill to the 
cause they were meant to promote. The Anglican church 
was the first to reject the canons of Dort with horror and 
contempt. II The Protestants of France and Germany, and 
even Geneva, the nurse and guardian of Calvinism, were 
shocked and disgusted, and unanimously softened down the 
rigor of their respective creeds. But the moral effects of 
this memorable conclave were too remote to prevent the sac- 
rifice which almost immediately followed the celebration of 
its rites. A trial by twenty-four prejudiced enemies, by cour- 
tesy called judges, which in its progress and its result throws 
judicial dignity into scorn, ended in the condemnation of Bar- 
neveldt and his fellow patriots, for treason against the liber- 
ties they had vainly labored to save. Barneveldt died on the 
scaffold by the hands of the executioner, on the 13th of May 

* Cerisier, t. v. p. 252. f Uitenbog. Hist, p 994. J Cerisier. 

§ Brandt, t. ii. pp. 610. 616. || Cerisier. 



1619. EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 207 

1619, in the 72d year of his ag-e. Grotius and Hoog-erbeets 
were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Ledenberg* com- 
mitted suicide in his cell, sooner than brave the tortures 
which he anticipated at the hands of his enemies. 

Many more pages than we are able to afford sentences, 
might be devoted to the details of these iniquitous proceed- 
ing's, and an account of their awful consummation. The pious 
heroism of Barneveldt was never excelled by any martyr to 
the most holy cause. He appealed to Maurice against the 
unjust sentence which condemned him to death ; but he 
scorned to beg his life. He met his fate with such temperate 
courage as was to be expected from the dignified energy of 
his life. His last words were worthy a philosopher whose 
thoughts, even in his latest moments, were superior to mere 
personal hope or fear, and turned to the deep mysteries of his 
being. " O God !" cried De Barneveldt, " what then is man]" 
as he bent his head to the sword that severed it from his body, 
and sent the inquiring spirit to learn the great mystery for 
which it longed. 



CHAP. xvn. 

1619—1625. 

TO THE DEATH OF PRINCE MAURICE. 

The princess-dowager of Orange, and Du Maurier the 
French ambassador, had vainly implored mercy for the inno- 
cent victim at the hands of the inexorable stadtholder. Mau- 
rice refused to see his mother-in-law : he left the ambassa- 
dor's appeal unanswered. This is enough for the rigid jus- 
tice of history, that cannot be blinded by partiality, but hands 
over to shame, at the close of their career, even those whom 
she nursed in the very cradle of heroism. But an accusation 
has become current, more fatal to the fame of prince Maurice, 
because it strikes at the root of his claims to feeling, which 
could not be impugned by a mere perseverance in severity 
that might have sprung from mistaken views. It is asserted, 
but only as general belief, that he witnessed the execution 
of Barneveldt.* The little window of an octagonal tower, 
overlooking the square of the Binnenhof at the Hague, where 
the tragedy was acted, is still shown as the spot from which 

* Grotius, Aiibery, &c. 



208 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1620 

the priiice gazed on the scene. Almost concealed from view 
among- the clustering buildings of the place, it is well adapt- 
ed to give weight to the tradition ; but it may not, perhaps, 
even now be too late to raise a generous incredulity as to an 
assertion of which no eye-witness attestation is recorded, 
and which might have been the invention of malignity. 
There are many statements of history which it is immaterial 
to substantiate or disprove. Splendid fictions of public virtue 
have often produced their good, if once received as fact ; but, 
when private character is at stake, every conscientious wri- 
ter or reader will cherish his " historic doubts," when he re- 
flects on the facility with which calumny is sent abroad, the 
avidity with which it is received, and the careless ease with 
which men credit what it costs little to invent and propagate, 
but requires an age of trouble and an almost impossible con- 
junction of opportunities effectually to refute. 

Grotius and Hoogerbeets were confined in the castle of 
Louvestein. Moersbergen, a leading patriot of Utrecht ; De 
Haan, pensionary of Haarlem ; and Uitenbogaard, the chosen 
confidant of Maurice, but the friend of Barneveldt; were 
next accused and sentenced to imprisonment or banishment. 
And thus Arminianism, deprived of its chiefs, was for the 
time completely stifled. The remonstrants, thrown into utter 
despair, looked to emigration as their last resource. Gusta- 
vus Adolphus king of Sweden, and Frederick duke of Hol- 
stein, offered them shelter and protection in their respective 
states. Several availed themselves of these ofifers ; but the 
states-general, alarmed at the progress of self-expatriation, 
moderated their rigor, and thus checked the desolating evil. 
Several of the imprisoned Arminians had the good fortune to 
elude the vigilance of their jailors ; but the escape of Gro- 
tius is the most remarkable of all, both from his own celebrity 
as one of the first writers of his age in the most varied 
walks of literature, and from its peculiar circumstances, 
which only found a parallel in European history afl:er a lapse 
of two centuries.* 

Grotius was freely allowed during his close imprisonment 
all the relaxations of study. His friends supplied him with 
quantities of books, which were usually brought into the tbr- 
tress in a trunk two feet two inches long, which the governor 
regularly and carefully examined during the first year. But 
custom brought relaxation in the strictness of the prison 
rules; and the wife of the illustrious prisoner, his faithful 

* We allude to tlie escape of Lavalette from the prison of the Concierge- 
rie in Paris, in 1815, which so painfully excited the interest of all Europe 
for the intended victim's wife, whose reason was the forfeit of her exertion 



1620. ESCAPE OF GEOTIUS. 209 

and constant visiter, proposed the plan of his escape, to which 
he gave a ready and, all hazards considered, a courageous 
assent. Shut up in this trunk for two hours, and with all the 
risk of suffocation, and of injury from the rude handling of 
the soldiers who carried it out of the fort, Grotius was brought 
clear off by the very agents of his persecutors, and safely de- 
livered to the care of his devoted and discreet female servant, 
who knew the secret and kept it well. She attended the 
important consignment in the barge to the town of Gorcum ; 
and after various risks of discovery, providentially escaped, 
Grotius at length found himself safe beyond the limits of his 
native land. His wife, whose torturing suspense may be 
imagined the while, concealed the stratagem as long as it 
was possible to impose on the jailor with the pardonable and 
praiseworthy fiction of her husband's illness and confinement 
to his bed. The government, outrageous at the result of the 
affair, at first proposed to hold this interesting prisoner in 
place of the prey they had lost, and to proceed criminally 
against her. But after a fortnight's confinement she was re- 
stored to liberty, and the country saved from the disgrace of 
so ungenerous and cowardly a proceeding.* Grotius repaired 
to Paris, where he was received in the most flattering man- 
ner, and distinguished by a pension of 1000 crowns allowed 
by the king. He soon published his vindication — one of the 
most eloquent and unanswerable productions of its kind, in 
which those times of unjust accusations and illegal punish- 
ments were so fertile. 

The expiration of the twelve years' truce was now at 
hand ; and the United States, after that long period of intes- 
tine trouble and disgrace, had once more to recommence a 
more congenial struggle against foreign enemies ; for a re- 
newal of the war with Spain might be fairly considered a 
return to the regimen best suited to the constitution of the 
people. The republic saw, however, with considerable anx- 
iety, the approach of this new contest. It was fully sensible 
of its own weakness. Exile had reduced its population; 
patriotism had subsided; foreign friends were dead; the 
troops were unused to warfare ; the hatred against Spanish 
cruelty had lost its excitement ; the finances were in confu- 
sion ; prince Maurice had no longer the activity of youth ; 
and the still more vigorous impulse of fighting for his coun- 
try's liberty was changed to the dishonoring task of uphold- 
ing his own tyranny. 

The archdukes, encouraged by these considerations, had 

Aubery, rat. Grotius. 

14 



210 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1622. 

hopes of bringing- back the United Provinces to their domi- 
nation. They accordingly sent an embassy to Holland with 
proposals to that effect. It was received with indignation ; 
and the ambassador Peckius was obliged to be escorted back 
to the frontiers by soldiers, to protect him from the insults of 
the people.* Military operations were, however, for a while 
refrained from on either side, in consequence of the deaths 
of Philip III. of Spain and the archduke Albert. Philip IV. 
succeeded his father at the age of sixteen ; and the arch- 
duchess Isabella found herself alone at the head of the gov- 
ernment in the Belgian provinces. Olivarez became as sov- 
ereign a minister in Spain, as his predecessor the duke of 
Lerma had been ; but the archduchess, though now with only 
the title of governant of the Netherlands, held the reins of 
power with a firm and steady hand. 

In the celebrated thirty years' war which had commenced 
between the Protestants and Catholics of Germany, the for- 
mer had met with considerable assistance from the United 
Provinces. Barneveldt, who foresaw the embarrassments 
which the country would have to contend with on the expi- 
ration of that truce, had strongly opposed its meddling in the 
quarrel : but his ruin and death left no restraint on the policy 
which prompted the republic to aid the Protestant cause. 
Fifty thousand florins a month to the revolted Protestants, 
and a like sum to the princes of the union, were for some 
time advanced.f Frederick, the elector palatine, son-in-law 
of the king of England, and nephew of the prince, was cho- 
sen by the Bohemians for their king : but in spite of the en- 
thusiastic wishes of the English nation, James persisted in 
refusing to interfere in Frederick's favor.| France, governed 
by De Luynes, a favorite whose influence was deeply pledged, 
and, it is said, dearly sold, to Spain, abandoned the system 
of Henry IV., and upheld the house of Austria. § Thus the 
new monarch, only aided by the United Provinces, and that 
feebly, was soon driven from his temporary dignity ; his he- 
reditary dominions in the palatinate were over-run by the 
Spanish army under Spinola ; and Frederick, utterly defeated 
at the battle of Prague, was obliged to take refuge in Hol- 
land. James's abandonment of his son-in-law has been uni- 
versally blamed by almost every historian. || He certainly 
allowed a few generous individuals to raise a regiment in 
England of 2400 chosen soldiers, who, under the command 
of the gallant Sir Horace Vere, could only vainly regret the 



* Wagenaer, Hist. x. 420. f Cerisier. 

X Carleton. § Aubery. !( See Hume, &c. 



1623. WAR IN GERMANY. 211 

impossibility of opposition to ten times their number of vete- 
ran troops.* 

This contest was carried on at first with ahnost all the ad- 
vantages on the side of the house of Austria. Two men of 
extraordinary character, which presented a savage parody of 
military talent, and a courage chiefly remarkable for the 
ferocity into which it degenerated, struggled for a while 
against the imperial arms. These were the count of Mans- 
field and Christian of Brunswick. At the head of two des- 
perate bands, which, by dint of hard fighting, acquired some- 
thing of the consistency of regular armies, they maintained 
a long resistance : but the duke of Bavaria, commanding the 
troops of the emperor, and count Tilly at the head of those 
of Spain, completed in the year 1622 the defeat of their 
daring and semi-barbarous opponents. 

Spinola was resolved to commence the war against the re- 
public by some important exploit. He therefore laid siege to 
Bergen-op-Zoom, a place of great consequence, commanding 
the navigation of the Meuse and the coasts of all the islands 
of Zealand.f But Maurice, roused from the lethargy of des- 
potism which seemed to have wholly changed his character, 
repaired to the scene of threatened danger ; and succeeded, 
after a series of desperate efforts on both sides, to raise the 
siege, forcing Spinola to abandon his attempt with a loss of 
upwards of 12,000 men.| Frederick Henry in the mean time 
had made an incursion into Brabant with a body of light 
troops; and ravaging the country up to the very gates of 
Mechlin, Louvain, and Brussels, levied contributions to the 
amount of 600,000 florins. § The states completed this series 
of good fortune by obtaining the possession of West Fries- 
land, by means of count Mansfield, whom they had dispatched 
thither at the head of his formidable army, and who had, in 
spite of the opposition of count Tilly, successfully performed 
his mission. II 

We must now turn from these brief records of military 
affairs, the more pleasing theme for the historian of the 
Netherlands in comparison with domestic events, which claim 
attention but to create sensations of regret and censure. 
Prince Maurice had enjoyed without restraint the fruits of 
his ambitious daring. His power was uncontrolled and unop- 
posed, but it was publicly odious ; and private resentments 
were only withheld by fear, and, perhaps, in some measure 

* Carleton. t Capellan, vol. i. pp. 92—97 

I Capellan, vol. i. pp. 92—97. § Cerisier. 

i! M6m. de Fred. Henry, p. 17, &c. 



212 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1623. 

by the moderation and patience which distinguished the dis- 
ciples of Arminianism. In the midst, however, of the ap- 
parent calm, a deep conspiracy was formed against the life of 
the prince. The motives, the conduct, and the termination 
of this plot, excite feelings of many opposite kinds. We 
cannot, as in former instances, wholly execrate the design 
and approve the punishment. Commiseration is mingled with 
blame, when we mark the sons of Barneveldt, urged on by 
the excess of filial affection to avenge their venerable father's 
fate ; and despite our abhorrence for the object in view, we 
sympathize with the conspirators rather than the intended 
victim. William van Stoutenbourg, and Renier de Groene- 
veld, ivere the names of these two sons of the late pensionary. 
The I'sMer was the younger ; but, of more impetuous charac- 
ter than his brother, he was the principal in the plot. Instead 
of any efforts to soften down the hatred of this unfortunate 
family, these brothers had been removed from their employ- 
ments, their property was confiscated, and despair soon urged 
them to desperation. In such a time of general discontent it 
was easy to find accomplices. Seven or eight determined 
men readily joined in the plot : of these, two were Catholics, 
the rest Arminians ; the chief of whom was Henry Slatius, 
a preacher of considerable eloquence, talent, and energy. It 
was first proposed to attack the prince at Rotterdam ; but the 
place was soon after changed for Ryswyk, a village near the 
Hague, and afterwards celebrated by the treaty of peace 
signed there and which bears its name. Ten other associates 
were soon engaged by the exertions of Slatius : these were 
Arminian artisans and sailors, to whom the actual execution 
of the murder was to be confided ; and they were persuaded 
that it was planned with the connivance of prince Frederick 
Henry, who was considered by the Arminians as the secret 
partisan of their sect. The 6th of February was fixed on for 
the accomplishment of the deed. The better to conceal the 
design, the conspirators agreed to go unarmed to the place, 
where they were to find a box containing pistols and poniards 
in a spot agreed upon. The death of the prince of Orange 
was not the only object mtended. During the confusion sub- 
sequent to the hoped-for success of that first blow, the chief 
conspirators intended to excite simultaneous revolts at Ley- 
den, Gouda, and Rotterdam, in which town the Arminians 
were most numerous. A general revolution throughout Hol- 
land was firmly reckoned on as the infallible result ; and suc- 
cess was enthusiastically looked for to their country's freedom 
and their individual fame. 



1623. PLOT AGAINST PRINCE MAURICE. 213 

But the plot, however cautiously laid and resolutely per- 
severed in, was doomed to the fate of many another ; and the 
horror of a second murder (but with far different provoca- 
tion from the first) averted from the illustrious family to 
whom was still destined the giory of consolidating the country 
it had formed. Two brothers named Blansaart, and one 
Parthy, having procured a considerable sum of money from 
the leading conspirators, repaired to the Hague, as they as- 
serted, for the purpose of betraying the plot ; but they were 
forestalled in this purpose : four of the sailors had gone out to 
Ryswyk the preceding evening, and laid the whole of the 
project, together with the wages of their intended crime, be- 
fore the prince ; who, it would appear, then occupied the 
ancient chateau, which no longer exists at Ryswyk. The 
box of arms was found in the place pointed out by the in- 
formers, and measures were instantly taken to arrest the 
various accomplices. Several were seized. Groeneveld had 
escaped along the coast disguised as a fisherman, and had 
nearly effected his passage to England, when he was recog- 
nized and arrested in the island of Vlieland. Slatius and others 
were also intercepted in their attempts at escape. Stouten- 
bourg, the most culpable of all, was the most fortunate ; proba- 
bly from the energy of character which marks the difference 
between a bold adventurer and a timid speculator. He is 
believed to have passed from the Hague in the same manner 
as Grotius quitted his prison ; and, by the aid of a faithful 
servant, he accomplished his escape through various perils, 
and finally reached Brussels, where the archduchess Isabella 
took him under her special protection. He for several years 
made efforts to be allowed to return to Holland ; but finding 
them hopeless, even after the death of Maurice, he embraced 
the Catholic religion, and obtained the command of a troop 
of Spanish cavalry, at the head of which he made incursions 
into his native country, carrying before him a black flag with 
the efhgy of a death's head, to announce the mournful ven- 
geance which he came to execute. 

Fifteen persons were executed for the conspiracy. If ever 
mercy was becoming to a man, it would have been pre-emi- 
nently so to Maurice on this occasion ; but he was inflexible 
as adamant. The mother, the wife, and the son of Groeneveld, 
threw themselves at his feet, imploring pardon. Prayers, 
tears, and sobs, were alike ineffectual. It is even said that 
Maurice asked the wretched mother " why she begged mercy 
for her son, having refused to do as much for her husband '{" 
To which cruel question she is reported to have made the 



214 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1624. 

sublime answer — " Because my son is guilty, and my husbana 
was not."* 

These bloody executions caused a deep sentiment of gloom. 
The conspiracy excited more pity for the victims than horror 
for the intended crime. Maurice, from being- the idol of his 
countrymen, was now become an object of their fear and dis- 
like. When he moved from town to town, the people no 
longer hailed him with acclamations ; and even the common 
tokens of outward respect v/ere at times withheld. f The 
Spaniards, taking- advantage of the internal weakness conse- 
quent on this state of public feeling in the States, made re- 
peated incursions into the provinces, which were now united 
but in title, not in spirit. Spinola was once more in the field, 
and had invested the important town of Breda, which was the 
patrimonial inheritance of the princes of Orange. Maurice 
was oppressed with anxiety and regret ; and, for the sake of 
his better feelings, it may be hoped, with remorse. He could 
effect nothing against his rival ; and he saw his own laurels 
v/ithering from his care-worn brow. The only hope left of 
obtaining the so much wanted supplies of money, was in the 
completion of a new treaty with France and England. Car- 
dinal Richelieu, desirous of setting bounds to the ambition 
and the successes of the house of Austria, readily came into 
the views of the States; and an obligation for a loan of 
1,200,000 livres during the year 1624, and 1,000,000 more 
for each of the two succeeding years, was granted by the 
king of France, on condition that the republic made no new 
truce with Spain without his mediation.| 

An alliance nearly similar was at the same time concluded 
with England. Perpetual quarrels on commercial questions 
loosened the ties which bound the States to their ancient al- 
lies. The failure of his son's intended marriage with the 
infanta of Spain had opened the eyes of king James to the 
way in which he was despised by those who seemed so much 
to respect him. He was highly indignant; and he undertook 
to revenge himself by aiding the republic. He agreed to fur- 
nish 6000 men, and supply the funds for their pay, with a pro- 
vision for repayment by the States at the conclusion of a peace 
with Spain. 

Prince Maurice had no opportunity of reaping the expected 
advantages from these treaties. Baffled in all his efforts for 
relieving Breda, and being unsuccessful in a new attempt 
upon Antwerp, he returned to the Hague, where a lingering 

* Cerisier, t. v. p. 452, &c • f Aubery. 

t Cerisier. 



1625. PRINCE FREDERICK HENRY. 215 

illness, that had for' some time exhausted him, terminated in 
his death on the 23d of April, 1625, in his fifty-ninth year.* 
Most writers attribute this event to agitation at being unable 
to relieve Breda from the attack of Spinola. It is in any case 
absurd to suppose that the loss of a single town could have 
produced so fatal an effect on one whose life had been an al- 
most continual game of the chances of war. But cause enough 
for Maurice's death may be found in the wearing effects of 
thirty years of active military service, and the more wasting 
ravages of half as many of domestic despotism. 



CHAP. XVIII. 
1625—1648. 

TO THE TREATY OF MUNSTER 

Frederick Henry succeeded to almost all his brother's titles 
and employments, and found his ne\v dignities clogged with 
an accumulation of difficulties sufficient to appal the most de- 
termined spirit. Every thing seemed to justify alarm and de- 
spondency. If the affairs of the republic in India wore an as- 
pect of prosperity, those in Europe presented a picture of past 
disaster and approaching peril. Disunion and discontent, an 
almost insupportable weight of taxation, and the disputes of 
which it was the fruitfiil source, formed the subjects of inter- 
nal ill. Abroad was to be seen navigation harassed and tram- 
melled by the pirates of Dunkirk ; and the almost defenceless 
frontiers of the republic exposed to the irruptions of the enemy. 
The king of Denmark, who endeavored to make head against 
the imperialist and Spanish forces, was beaten by Tilly, and 
made to tremble for the safety of his ovm States. England 
did nothing towards the common cause of Protestantism, in 
consequence of the weakness of the monarch ; and civil dis- 
sensions for a while disabled France from resuming the sys- 
tem of Henry IV. for humbling the house of Austria. 

Frederick Henry was at this. period in his forty-second year. 
His military reputation, was well established ; he soon proved 
his political talents. He commenced his career by a total 
change in the tone of government on the subject of sectarian 
differences. He exercised several acts of clemency in favor 
of the imprisoned and exiled Arminians, at the same time 

* Aubeiy, &c. 



216 HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS. 1626. 

that he upheld the dominant religion. By these measures he 
conciliated all parties ; and by degrees the fierce spirit of in- 
tolerance became subdued * The foreign relations of the 
United Provinces now presented the anomalous policy of a 
fleet furnished by the French king, manned by rigid Calvin- 
ists, and commanded by a grandson of admiral Coligny, for 
the purpose of combating the remainder of the French Hu- 
guenots, whom they considered as brothers in religion, though 
political foes ; and during the joint expedition which was un- 
dertaken by the allied French and Dutch troops against 
Rochelle, the strong-hold of Protestantism, the preachers of 
Holland put up prayers for the protection of those whom their 
army was marching to destroy. The states-general, ashamed 
of this unpopular union, recalled their fleet, after some severe 
fighting with that of the Huguenots. Cardinal Richelieu 
and the king of France were for a time furious in their dis- 
pleasure ; but interests of state overpowered individual re- 
sentments, and no rupture took place.f 

Charles I. had now succeeded his father on the English 
throne. He renewed the treaty with the republic, which 
furnished him with twenty ships to assist his own formidable 
fleet in his war against Spain. Frederick Henry had, soon 
after his succession to the chief command, commenced an 
active course of martial operations, and was successful in al- 
most all his enterprises. He took Groll and several other 
towns ; and it was hoped that his successes would have been 
pushed forward upon a wider field of action against the im- 
perial arms ; but the States prudently resolved to act on the 
defensive by land, choosing the sea for the theatre of their 
more active operations. All the hopes of a powerful confed- 
eration against the emperor and the king of Spain seemed 
frustrated, by the war which now broke out between France 
and England. The states-general contrived by great pru- 
dence to maintain a strict neutrality in this quarrel. They 
even succeeded in mediating a peace between the rival pow- 
ers, which was concluded the following year ; and in the mean 
time they obtained a more astonishing and important series 
of triumphs against the Spanish fleets than had yet been wit- 
nessed in naval conflicts. 

The West India company had confided the command of 
their fleet to Peter Hein, a most intrepid and intelligent sailor 
who proved his own merits, and the sagacity of his employ 
ers on many occasions, two of them of an extraordinary na- 
ture. In 1627, he defeated a fleet of twenty-six vessels, with 

* Capellan, i. 368. t Corisier. 



1629. NAVAL SUCCESSES. 217 

a much inferior force. In the following year, he had the still 
more brilliant good fortune, near the Havana, in the island 
of Cuba, in an engagement with the great Spanish armament, 
called the Money Fleet, to indicate the immense wealth which 
it contained. The booty was safely carried to Amsterdam, 
and the whole of the treasure, in money, precious stones, in- 
digo, &c. was estimated at the value of 12,000,000 florins. 
This was indeed a victory w^orth gaining, won almost with- 
out bloodshed, and raising the republic far above the mani- 
fold difficulties by which it had been embarrassed. Hein per- 
ished in the following year, in a combat with some of the 
pirates of Dunkirk — those terrible freebooters whose name 
was a watchword of terror during the whole continuance of 
the war.* 

The year 1629 brought three formidable armies at once to 
the frontiers of the republic, and caused a general dismay all 
through the United Provinces : but the immense treasures 
taken from the Spaniards, enabled them to make preparations 
suitable to the danger; and Frederick Henry, supported by 
his cousin William of Nassau, his natural brother Justin, and 
other brave and experienced officers, defeated every effort of 
the enemy. He took many towns in rapid succession ; and 
finally forced the Spaniards to abandon all notion of invading 
the territories of the republic. Deprived of the powerful 
talents of Spinola, who was called to- command the Spanish 
troops in Italy, the armies of the archduchess, under the 
count of Berg, were not able to cope with the genius of the 
prince of Orange. The consequence was the renewal of ne- 
gotiations for a second truce. But these were received on 
the part of the republic with a burst of opposition. All parties 
seemed decided on that point ; and every interest, however 
opposed on minor questions, combined to give a positive nega- 
tive on this.t 

The gratitude of the country for the services of Frederick 
Henry, induced the provinces of which he was stadtholder, 
to grant the reversion in this title to his son, a child of three 
years old ; and this dignity had every chance of becoming as 
absolute, as it was now pronounced almost hereditary, by the 
means of an army of 120,000 men devoted to their chief | 
However, few military occurrences took place, the sea being 
still chosen as the element best suited to the present enter- 
prises of the republic. In the widely-distant settlements of 
Brazil and Batavia, the Dutch were equally successful ; and 

* Cerisier, &;c. f Vandervynct. J Cerisier. 



!18 



HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



1634 



the East and West India companies acquired eminent pov/er 
and increasing- solidity. 

The year 1631 was signalized by an expedition into Flan- 
ders, consisting- of 18,000 men, intended against Dunkirk, 
but hastily abandoned, in spite of every probability of suc- 
cess, by the commissioners of the states-general, who accom- 
panied the army, and thwarted all the ardor and vigor of the 
prince of Orange.* But another great naval victory in the 
narrow seas of Zealand, recompensed the disappointments of 
this inglorious affair. f 

The splendid victories of Augustus Adolphus against the 
imperial arras in Germany, changed the whole face of Euro- 
pean affairs. Protestantism began once more to raise its 
head ; and the important conquests by Frederick Henry of 
almost all the strong places on the Meuse, including Maes- 
triclit, the strongest of all, gave the United Provinces their 
ample share in the glories of the war. The death of the 
archduchess Isabella, which took place at Brussels in the 
year 1633, added considerably to the difficulties of Spain in 
the Belgian provinces. The defection of the count of Berg, 
the chief general of their armies, who was actuated by re- 
sentment on the appointment of the marquis of St. Croix 
over his head, threw every thing into confusion, in exposing 
a wide-spread confederacy among the nobility of these prov- 
inces to erect themselves into an independent republic, 
strengthened by a perpetual alliance with the United Prov- 
inces against the power of Spain.| But the plot failed, 
chiefly, it is said, by the imprudence of the king of England, 
who let the secret slip, from some motives vaguely hinted at, 
but never sufficiently explained. § After the death of Isabella, 
ihe prince of Brabancon was arrested. The prince of Epinoi 
ind the duke of Burnonville made their escape ; and the 
duke of Arschot, who was arrested in Spain, was soon libe- 
rated, in consideration of some discoveries into the nature of 
the plot. An armistice, published in 1634, threw this whole 
affair into complete oblivion. |1 

The king of Spain appointed his brother Ferdinand, a car- 
dinal and archbishop of Toledo, to the dignity of governor- 
general of the Netherlands. He repaired to Germany at the 
head of 17,000 men, and bore his share in the victory of Nord- 
lingen ; after which he hastened to the Netherlands, and 
made his entry into Brussels in 1634. "TT Richelieu had hith- 
erto only combated the house of Austria in these countries 



* Mem. of Fred. Henry, pp. .126—1.30. f Cerisifir. J Vandervynct. 
§ Burnet. \\ Vandervynct. TT Idem. 



1635. BATTLE NEAR AVEIN. 219 

by negotiation and intrigue ; but he now entered warmly into 
the proposals made by Holland, for a treaty offensive and de- 
fensive between Louis XIII. and the republic. By a treaty 
soon after concluded (8th February, 1635,) the king of France 
engaged to invade the Belgian provinces with an army of 
30,000 men, in concert with a Dutch force of equal number. 
It was agreed, that if Belgium would consent to break from 
the Spanish yoke, it \yas to be erected into a free state : if, 
on the contrary, it would not co-operate for its c wn freedom, 
France and Holland were to dismember, and :c dixide it 
equally.* 

The plan of these combined measures was soon acted on. 
The French army took the field under the command of the 
marshals De Chatillon and De Breeze ; and defeated the 
Spaniards in a bloody battle, near Avein, in the province of 
Luxembourg, on the 20th of May, 1635, with the loss of 
4000 men. The victors soon made a junction with the prince 
of Orange ; and the towns of Tirlemont, St. Trend, and some 
others, Vvcre quickly reduced. The former of these places 
was taken by assault, and pillaged with circumstances of 
cruelty that recall the horrors of the early transactions of 
the war. The prince of Orange was forced to punish se- 
verely the authors of these offences.f The consequences of 
this event were highly injurious to the allies. A spirit of 
fierce resistance was excited throughout the invaded prov- 
inces. Louvain set the first example. The citizens and stu- 
dents took arms for its defence ; and the combined forces of 
France and Holland were repulsed, and forced by want of 
supplies to abandon the siege, and rapidly retreat.| The 
prince-cardinal, as Ferdinand was called, took advantage of 
this reverse to press the retiring French ; recovered several 
towns ; and gained all the advantages as well as glory of the 
campaign. The remains of the French army, reduced by 
continual combats, and still more by sickness, finally em- 
barked at Rotterdam, to return to France in the ensuing 
spring, a sad contrast to its brilliant appearance at the com- 
mencement of the campaign. 

The military events for several ensuing years, present 
nothing of sufficient interest to induce us to record them in 
detail. A perpetual succession of sieges and skirmishes afibrd 
a monotonous picture of isolated courage and skill ; but we 
see none of those great conflicts which bring out the genius 
of opposing g-enerals, and show war in its grand results, as 
the decisive means of enslaving or emancipating mankind. 

* Vandervynct. T Idem. I Idem. 



220 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1639. 

The prince-cardinal, one of the many who on this bloody the- 
atre displayed consummate military talents, incessantly em- 
ployed himself in incursions into the bordering- provinces of 
France, ravaged Picardy, and filled Paris with fear and trem- 
bling. He, however, reaped no new laurels when he came 
into contact with Frederick Henry, who, on almost every oc- 
casion, particularly that of the siege of Breda, in 1637,* car- 
ried his object in spite of all opposition. The triumphs of war 

^were balanced ; but Spain and the Belgian provinces, so long 

.^pheld by the talent of the governor-general, were gradually 
become exhausted. The revolution in Portugal, and the suc- 
cession of the duke of Braganza, under the title of John IV., 
to the throne of his ancestors, struck a fatal blow to the power 
of Spain. A strict alliance was concluded between the new 
monarch of France and Holland ; and hostilities against the 
common enemy were on all sides vigorously continued. 

The successes of the republic at sea and in their distant 
enterprises were continual, and in some instances brilliant. 
Brazil was gradually falling into the power of the West India 

, <3pmpany. The East India possessions were secure. The 
-great victory of Van Tromp, known by the name of the battle 
of the Downs, from being fought off the coast of England, on 
the 21st of October, 1639, raised the naval reputation of Hol- 
land as high as it could well be carried. Fifty ships taken, 
burned, and sunk, were the proofs of their admiral's triumph ; 
and the Spanish navy never recovered the loss. The victory 
was celebrated throughout Europe, and Van Tromp was the 
hero of the day. The king of England was, however, highly 

■indignant at the hardihood with which the Dutch admiral 
broke through the etiquette of territorial respect, and destroyed 
his country's bitter foes under the very sanction of English 
neutrality. But the subjects of Charles I. did not partake their 
monarch's feelings.f They had no sympathy with arbitrary 
and tyrannic government ; and their joy at the misfortune of 
their old enemies the Spaniards gave a fair warning of the 
spirit which afterwards proved so fatal to the infatuated king, 
who on this occasion would have protected and aided them. 

In an unsuccessful enterprise in Flanders, count Henry 
Casimir of Nassau was mortally wounded, adding another to 
the list of those of that illustrious family whose lives were 
lost in the service of their country.| His brother, count Wil- 
liam Frederick, succeeded him in his office of stadtholder of 



* Mem. de Fred. Henry, p. 196. f Cerisier. 

I M6m. de Fred. Henry. 



1641. CONTINUANCE OF HOSTILITIES. 221 

Friesland ; but the same dignity in the provinces of Groningen 
and Drent devolved on the prince of Orange. The latter had 
conceived the desire of a royal alliance for his son William. 
Charles I. readily assented to the proposal of the states-gen- 
eral, that this young prince should receive the hand of his 
daughter Mary. Embassies weve exchanged ; the conditions 
of the contract agreed on ; but it was not till two years later 
that Van Tromp, with an escort of twenty ships, conducted 
the princess, then twelve years old, to the country of her fu- 
ture husband. The republic did not view with an eye quite 
favorable, this advancing aggrandizement of the house of Or- 
ange. Frederick Henry had shortly before been dignified by 
the king of France, at the suggestion of Richelieu, with the 
title of " highness," instead of the inferior one of " excel- 
lency;" and the states-general, jealous of this distinction 
granted to their chief magistrate, adopted for themselves the 
sounding appellation of" high and mighty lords." The prince 
of Orange, whatever might have been his private views of 
ambition, had, however, the prudence to silence all suspicion, 
by the mild and moderate use which he made of the power, 
which he might perhaps have wished to increase, but never 
attempted to abuse. 

On the 9th of November, 1641, the prince-cardinal Ferdi- 
nand died at Brussels in his thirty-third year ; another in- 
stance of those who were cut off, in the very vigor of man- 
hood, from worldly dignities and the exercise of the painful 
and inauspicious duties of governor-general of the Nether- 
lands. Don Francisco de Mello, a nobleman of highly reputed 
talents, was the next who obtained this onerous situation. 
He commenced his governorship by a succession of military 
operations, by which, like most of his predecessors, he is 
alone distinguished. Acts of civil administration are scarcely 
noticed by the historians of these men. Not one of them, 
with the exception of the archduke Albert, seems to have 
valued the internal interests of the government ; and he alone, 
perhaps, because they were declared and secured as his own. 
De Mello, after taking some towns, and defeating the marshal 
de Guiche in the battle of Hannecourt, tarnished all his fame 
by the great faults which he committed in the famous battle 
of Rocroy. The duke of Enghien, then twenty-one years of 
age, and subsequently so celebrated as the great Conde, com 
pletely defeated De Mello, and nearly annihilated the Spanish 
and Walloon infantry. The military operations of the Dutch 
army were this year only remarkable by the gallant conduct 
of prince William, son of the Drince of Orange, who, not yet 



222 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1642 

seventeen years of age, defeated, near Hulst, under the eyes 
of his father, a Spanish detachment in a very warm skirmish.* 
Considerable changes were now insensibly operating in 
the policy of Europe. Cardinal Richelieu had finished his 
dazzling but tempestuous career of government, in which the 
hand of death arrested him on the 4th of December, 1642. 
Louis XIII. soon followed to the grave him who was rather 
his master than his minister. Anne of Austria was declared 
regent during the minority of her son, Louis XIV., then only 
five years of age : and cardinal Mazarin succeeded to the sta- 
tion from which death alone had power to remove his prede- 
cessor.! 

The civil wars in England now broke out, and their terri- 
ble results seemed to promise to the republic the undisturbed 
sovereignty of the seas. The prince of Orange received with 
great distinction the mother-in-law of his son, when she came 
to Holland under pretext of conducting her daughter : but her 
principal purpose was to obtain, by the sale of the crown jew- 
els and the assistance of Frederick Henry, funds for the sup- 
! ply of her unfortunate husband's cause.| The prince and 

! several private individuals contributed largely in money ; and 

i several experienced officers passed over to serve in the royal- 

ist army of England. The provincial states of Holland, how- 
j ever, sympathizing wholly with the parliament, remonstrated 

i with the stadtholder ; and the Dutch colonists encouraged the 

i hostile efforts of their brethren, the Puritans of Scotland, by 

I all the absurd exhortations of fanatic zeal. Boswell, the Eng- 

j lish resident in the name of the king, and Strictland, the am- 

! bassador from the parliament, kept up a constant succession 

j of complaints and remonstrances on occasion of every incident 

which seemed to balance the conduct of the republic in the 
I great question of English politics. § Considerable differences 

existed : the province of Holland, and some others, leant to- 
wards the parliament; the prince of Orange favored the king; 
and the states-general endeavored to maintain a neutrality. 
i The struggle was still furiously maintained in Germany. 

j Generals of the first order of military talent were continually 

appearing, and successively eclipsing each other by their 
brilliant actions : — Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the midst 
of his glorious career, at the battle of Lutzen ; the duke of 
Weimar succeeded to his command, and proved himself wor- 
thy of the place ; Tilly and the celebrated Walstein were no 
longer on the scene. The emperor Ferdinand IL was dead ; 
and his son Ferdinand IIL saw his victorious enemies threaten, 

* 3Jeni. dc Fred Henry. f Cerisier. | Idem. § Ceiisier, 



1644. FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS. 223 

at last, the existence of the empire. Every thing tended to 
make peace necessary to some of the contending powers, as 
it was at length desirable for all. Sweden and Denmark 
were engaged m a bloody and wasteful conflict. The United 
Provinces sent an embassy, in the month of June, 1644, to 
each of those powers; and by a vigorous demonstration of 
their resolution to assist Sweden, if Denmark proved refrac- 
tory, a peace was signed the following year, which termina- 
ted the disputes of the rival nations.* 

Negotiations were now opened at Munster between the 
several belligerents. The republic was, however, the last to 
send its plenipotentiaries there ; having signed a new treaty 
with France, by which they mutually stipulated to make no 
peace independent of each other. It behoved the republic, 
however, to contribute as much as possible towards the gen- 
eral object ;^ for, among other strong motives to that line of 
conduct, the finances of Holland were in a state perfectly de- 
plorable. 

Every year brought the necessity of a new loan ; and the 
public debt of the provinces now amounted to 150,000,000 
florins, bearing interest at 6^ per cent.f Considerable alarm 
was excited at the progress of the French army in the Bel- 
gian provinces ; and escape from the tyranny of Spain seemed 
only to lead to the danger of submission to a nation too power- 
ful and too close at hand not to be dangerous, either as a foe 
or an ally. These, fears were increased by the knowledge 
that cardinal Mazarin projected a marriage between Louis 
XIV. and the infanta of Spain, with the Belgian provinces, 
or Spanish Netherlands as they were now called, for her 
marriage portion.^ This project was confided to the prince of 
Orange, under the seal of secrecy, and he was offered the 
marquisate of Antwerp as the price of his influence towards 
effecting the plan. The prince revealed the v/hole to the 
states-general. Great fermentation was excited : the stadt- 
holder himself was blamed, and suspected of complicity with 
the designs of the cardinal, Frederick Henry was deeply 
hurt at this want of confidence, and the injurious publications 
which openly assailed his honor in a point where he felt him- 
self entitled to praise instead of suspicion. 

The French labored to remove the impression which this 
affair excited in the republic : but the states-general felt 
themselves justified by the intriguing policy of Mazarin in 
entering into a secret negotiation with the king of Spain, 
who offered very favorable conditions. The negotiations 



* Cerisier t Idem t Negoc. Seer, t, iii. p. H, <fcc. 



224 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1648. 

were considerably advanced by the marked disposition evinced 
by the prince of Orange to hasten the establishment of peace. 
Yet, at this very period, and vi^hile anxiously wishing this 
great object, he could not resist the desire for another cam- 
paign ; one more exploit, to signalize the epoch at which he 
finally placed his sword in the scabbard. Frederick Henry 
was essentially a soldier, with all the spirit of his race ; and 
this evidence of the ruling passion, while he touched the 
verge of the grave, is one of the most striking points of liis 
character. He accordingly took the field ; but, with a con- 
stitution broken by a lingering disease, he was little fitted to 
accomplish any feat worthy of his splendid reputation. He 
failed in an attempt on Venlo, and another on Antwerp, and 
retired to the Hague, where for some months he rapidly de- 
clined. On the 14th of March, 1647, he expired, in his 
sixty-third year ; leaving behind him a character of unblem- 
ished integrity, prudence, toleration, and valor. He was not 
of that impetuous stamp which leads men to heroic deeds, 
and brings danger to the states whose liberty is compromised 
by their ambition. He was a striking contrast to his brother 
Maurice, and more resembled his father in many of those 
calmer qualities of the mind, which make men more beloved 
without lessening their claims to admiration. Frederick 
Henry had the honor of completing the glorious task which 
William began and Maurice followed up. He saw the oppres- 
sion they had combated now humbled and overthrown ; and 
he forms the third in a sequence of family renown, the most 
surprising and the least chequered afforded by the annals of 
Europe. 

William II. succeeded his father in his dignities; and his 
ardent spirit longed to rival him in war. He turned his en- 
deavors to thwart all the efibrts for peace. But the interests 
of the nation and the dying wishes of Frederick Henry were 
of too powerful influence with the states, to be overcome by 
the martial yearnings of an inexperienced youth. The nego- 
tiations were pressed forward ; and, despite the complaints, 
the murmurs, and the intrigues of France, the treaty of 
Munster was finally signed by the respective ambassadors of 
the United Provinces and Spain, on the 30th of January 
1648. This celebrated treaty contains seventy-nine articles. 
Three points were of main and vital importance to the repub- 
lic : the first acknowledges an ample and entire recognition 
of the sovereignty of the states-general, and a renunciation 
for ever of all claims on the part of Spain ; the second con- 
firms the rights of trade and navigation in the East and West 
Indies, with tlie possession of the various countries and 



1648. TREATY OF MLNSTEK. 226 

stations then actually occupied by the contracting- powers; the 
third guaranties a like possession of all the provinces and 
towns of the Netherlands, as they then stood in their respec- 
tive occupation, — a clause highly favorable to the republic, 
which had conquered several considerable places in Brabant 
and Flanders. The ratifications of the treaty were exchanged 
at Munster with great solemnity on the 15th of May follow 
ing- the signature ; the peace was published in that town and 
in Osnaburg on the 19th, and in all the different states of 
the kmg of Spain and the United Provinces as soon as the 
joyous intelligence could reach such various and widely 
separated destinations,* Thus, after eighty years of unparal- 
leled warfare, only interrupted by the truce of 1609, during 
which hostilities had not ceased in the Indies, the new re- 
public rose from the horrors of civil war and foreign tyranny 
to its uncontested rank as a free and independent state among 
the most powerful nations of Europe. No country had ever 
done more for glory ; and the result of its efforts was the 
irrevocable guarantee of civil and religious liberty, the great 
aim and end of civilization. 

The king of France alone had reason to complain of this 
treaty : his resentment was strongly pronounced. But the 
United Provinces flung back the reproaches of his ambassador 
on cardinal Mazarin; and the anger of the monarch was 
smothered by the policy of the minister. 

The internal tranquillity of the republic was secured from 
all future alarm by the conclusion of the general peace of 
Westphalia, definitively signed the 24th of October, 1648. 
This treaty was long considered not only as the fundamental 
law of the empire, but as the basis of the political system of 
Europe. As numbers of conflicting Interests were reconciled, 
Germanic liberty secured, and a just equilibrium established 
between the Catholics and Protestants, France and Sweden 
obtained great advantages ; and the various princes of the em- 
pire saw their possessions regulated and secured, at the same 
time that the powers of the emperor were strictly defined. 

This great epoch in European history naturally marks the 
conclusion of another in that of the Netherlands ; and this 
period of general repose allows a brief consideration of the 
progress of arts, sciences, and manners, during the half cen- 
tury just now completed. 

The archdukes Albert and Isabella, during the whole course 
of their sovereignty, labored to remedy the abuses which had 
crowded the administration of justice. The perpetual edict, 

* Vanderv^nct. 
1 5 



226 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1648. 

in 1611, reaulated the form of judicial proceedings ; and 
several provinces received new charters, by which the privi- 
leges of the people were placed on a footing in harmony with 
their wants. Anarchy, in short, gave place to regular govern- 
ment ; and the archdukes, in swearing to maintain the cele- 
brated pact known by the name of the Joyeuse Entree, did 
all in their power to satisfy their subjects, while securing 
their own authority. The piety of the archdukes gave an 
example to all classes. This, although degenerating in the 
vulgar to superstition and bigotry, formed a severe check, 
which allowed their rulers to restrain popular excesses, and 
enabled them in the internal quiet of their despotism to soften 
the people by the encouragement of the sciences and arts. 
I Medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, made prodigious pro- 

} gross during this epoch. Several eminent men flourished in 

I the Netherlands. But the glory of others, in countries 

I presenting a wider theatre for their renown, in many in- 

I stances eclipsed them ; and the inventors of new methods 

\ and systems in anatomy, optics, and music, v/ere almost for- 

gotten in the splendid improvements of their followers. 

In literature, Hugo de Groot, or Grotius, (his Latinized 
name, by which he is better known,) was the most brilliant 
star of his country or his age, as Erasmus was of that which 
preceded. He was at once eminent as jurist, poet, theologian, 
and historian. His erudition was immense ; and he brought 
it to bear in his political capacity, as ambassador from Sweden 
to the court of France, when the violence of party and the 
injustice of power condemned him to perpetual imprisonment 
in his native land. The religious disputations in Holland had 
g'iven a great impulse to talent. They were not mere theo- 
logical arguments ; but with the wild and furious abstractions 
of bigotry were often blended various illustrations from his- 
tory, art, and science, and a tone of keen and delicate satire, 
which at once refined and made them readable. It is remark- 
able, that almost the whole of the Latin writings of this 
period abound in good taste, while those written in the vulgar 
tongue are chiefly coarse and trivial. Vondel and Hooft, the 
great poets of the time, wrote with genius and energy, but 
were deficient in judgment founded on good taste.* The 
latter of these writers was also distinguished for his prose 
works ; in honor of wliich Louis XIII. dignified him 'with 
letters patent of nobility, and decorated him with the order 
of St. Michael. 

But while Holland was more particularly distinguished by 

* Van Alpen, Cerisier, &c. 



1648. ARTS AND SCIENCES. 227 

the progi-ess of the mechanical arts, to which prmce Maurice 
afforded unbounded patronage, the Belgian provinces gave 
birth to that galaxy of genius in the art of painting, v/hich 
no equal period of any other country has ever rivalled. A 
volume like this would scarcely suffice to do justice to the 
merits of the eminent artists who now flourished in Belgium ; 
at once founding, perfecting, and immortalizing the Flemish 
school of painting. Rubens, Vandyck, Teniers, Grayer, Jor- 
daens, Sneyders, and a host of other great names, crowd on 
us, with claims for notice that almost make the mention of 
any an injustice to the rest. But Europe is familiar with 
their fame ; and the wide-spread taste for their delicious art 
makes them independent of other record than the combina- 
tion of their own exquisite touch, undying tints, and une- 
qualled knowledge of nature. Engraving, carried at the same 
time to great perfection, has multiplied some of the merits 
of the celebrated painters, while stamping the reputation of 
its own professors. Sculpture also had its votaries of consid- 
erable note. Among these, Des Jardins and Quesnoy held 
the foremost station. Architecture also produced some re- 
markable names. 

The arts were, in short, never held in higher honor than 
at this brilliant epoch. Otto-Venire, the master of Rubens, 
held most important employments. Rubens himself, appoint- 
ed secretary to the privy-council of the archdukes, was sub- 
sequently sent to England, where he negotiated the peace 
between that country and Spain. The unfortunate king 
Charles so highly esteemed his merit, that he knighted him 
in full parliament, and presented him with the diamond ring 
he wore on his own finger, and a chain enriched with bril- 
liants. David Teniers, the great pupil of this distinguished 
master, met his due share of honor. He has left several por- 
traits of himself; one of which hands him down to posterity, 
in the costume, and with the decorations of the belt and key, 
which he wore in his capacity of chamberlain to the arch- 
duke Leopold, governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands. 

The intestine disturbances of Holland during the twelve 
years' truce, and the enterprises against Friesland and the 
duchy of Cleves, had prevented that wise economy which 
was expected from the republic. The annual ordinary cost 
of the military establishment at that period amounted to 
13,000,000 florins. To meet the enormous expenses of the 
state, taxes were raised on every material. They produced 
about 30,000,000 florins a year, independent of 5,000,000 
each for the East and West India companies. The population 



*228 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1048r 

in 1620, in Holland, was about 600,000, and the other prov- 
inces contained about the same number. 

It is singular to observe the fertile erections of monopoly 
in a state founded on principles of commercial freedom. The 
East and West India companies, the Greenland company, and 
others, were successively formed. By the effect of their en- 
terprise, industry, and wealth, conquests were made and colo- 
nies founded with surprising rapidity. The town of Amster- 
dam, now New- York, was founded in 1624; and the East 
saw Batavia rise up from the ruins of Jacatra, which was 
sacked and razed by the Dutch adventurers. 

The Dutch and English East India companies, repressing 
their mutual jealousy, formed a species of partnership in 
1619 for the reciprocal enjoyment of the rights of commerce. 
But four years later than this date an event took place so 
fatal to national confidence that its impressions are scarcely 
yet effaced ; — this w^as the torturing and execution of several 
Englishmen in the island of Amboyna, on pretence of an un- 
proved plot, of which every probability leads to the belief 
that they were wholly innocent. This circumstance was the 
strongest stimulant to the hatred so evident in the bloody 
wars which not long afterwards took place between the two 
nations ; and the lapse of tvv^o centuries has not entirely ef- 
faced its effects. Much has been at various periods written 
for and against the establishment of monopolizing companies, 
by which individual wealth and skill are excluded from their 
chances of reward. With reference to those of Holland at 
this period of its history, it is sufficient to remark that the 
great results of their formation could never have been 
brought about by isolated enterprises ; and the justice or wis- 
dom of their continuance are questions wholly dependent on 
the fluctuations in trade, and the effects produced on that of 
any given country by the progress and the rivalry of others. 

With respect to the state of manners in the republic, it is 
clear that the jealousies and emulation of commerce were not 
likely to lessen the vice of avarice with which the natives 
have been reproached. The following is a strong expression 
of one, who cannot, however, be considered an unprejudiced 
observer, on occasion of some disputed points between the 
Dutch and English maritime tribunals : — " The decisions of 
our courts cause much ill-will among these people, whose 
hearts' blood is their purse."* While drunkenness was a vice 
considered scarcely scandalous, the intrigues of gallantry 
were concealed with the most scrupulous mystery, — giving 

* Carleton, 



1648. MANNEKS OF THE J'EOi'LE. 229 

evidence of at least good taste, if not of pure morality. Court 
etiquette began to be of infinite importance. The wife of 
count Ernest Casimir of Nassau was so intent on the preser- 
vation of her right of precedence, that on occasion of lady 
Carleton, the British ambassadress, presuming to dispute the 
pas, she forgot true dignity so far as to strike her. We may 
imagine the vehement resentment of such a man as Carleton 
for such an outrage. The lower orders of the people had 
the rude and brutal manners common to half-civilized nations 
which fight their way to freedom. The unfortunate king of 
Bohemia, when a refugee in Holland, was one day hunting ; 
and, in the heat of the chase, he followed his dogs which had 
pursued a hare, into a newly sown corn-field : he was quickly 
interrupted by a couple of peasants armed with pitchforks. 
He supposed his rank and person to be unknown to them ; 
but he was soon undeceived, and saluted with unceremonious 
reproaches. " King of Bohemia ! King of Bohemia !" shout- 
ed one of the boors, " why do you trample on my wheat which 
I have so lately had the trouble of sowing]" The king made 
many apologies, and retired, throwing the whole blame on 
his dogs. But in the life of marshal Turenne we find a more 
marked trait of manners than this, which might be paralleled 
in England at this day. This great general served his ap- 
prenticeship in the art of war under his uncles, the princes 
Maurice and Frederick Henry. He appeared one day on the 
public walk at the Hag-ue, dressed in his usual plain and 
modest style. Some young French lords, covered with gold, 
embroidery, and ribands, met and accosted him : a mob gath- 
ered round ; and while treating Turenne, although unknown 
to them, with all possible respect, they forced the others to 
retire, assailed with mockery and the coarsest abuse. 

But one characteristic, more noble and worthy than any of 
those thus briefly cited, was the full enjoyment of the liberty 
of the press in the United Provinces. The thirst of gain, the 
fury of faction, the federal independence of the minor towns, 
the absolute power of prince Maurice, all the combinations 
which might carry weight against this grand principle, were 
totally ineffectual to prevail over it. And the republic was, 
on this point, proudly pre-eminent among surrounding nations. 



230 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1649. 

CHAP. XIX. 
1648—1678. 

FROM THE PEACE OF MUNSTER TO THE PEACE Of NIMRGUEN. 

The completion of the peace of Munster opens a new 
scene in the history of the republic. Its political system ex- 
perienced considerable changes. Its ancient enemies became 
its most ardent friends, and its old allies loosened the bonds 
of long-continued amity. The other states of Europe, dis- 
pleased at its imperious conduct, or jealous of its success, be- 
gan to wisli its humiliation ; but it was little thought that the 
consummation was to be effected at the hands of England. 

While Holland prepared to profit by the peace so bril- 
liantly gained, England, torn by civil war, was hurried on in 
crime and misery, to the final act which lias left an indelible 
stain on her annals. Cromwell and the parliament had com- 
pletely subjugated the kingdom. The unfortunate king, de- 
livered up by the Scotch, was brought to a mock trial, and 
condemned to an ignominious death. Great as were his faults, 
they are almost lost sight of in the atrocity of his opponents; 
so surely does disproportioned punishment for political of- 
fences produce a reaction in the minds that would approve a 
commensurate penalty. The United Provinces had preserved 
a strict neutrality while the contest was undecided. The 
prince of Orange warmly strove to obtain a declaration in 
favor of his father-in-law, Charles I. The prince of Wales 
and the duke of York, his sons, who had taken refuge at the 
Hague, earnestly joined in the entreaty ; but all that could 
be obtained from the states-general, was their consent to an 
embassy to interpose with the ferocious bigots who doomed 
the hapless monarch to the block. Pauw and Joachimi, the 
one sixty-four years of age, the other eighty-eight, the most 
able men of the republic, undertook the task of mediation. 
They were scarcely listened to by the parliament, and the 
bloody sacrifice took place. 

The details of tliis event, and its immediate consequences, 
belong to English history ; and we must hurry over the brief, 
turbid, and inglorious stadtholderate of William II., to arrive 
at the more interesting contest between the republic which 
had honorably conquered its freedom, and that of tlie rival 
commonwealth, which had gained its power by hypocrisy, 
violence, and guilt. 



1650. WILLIAM 11. 2ol 

William II. was now in his twenty-fourth year. He had 
early evinced that heroic disposition which was common to 
his race. He panted for military glory. All his pleasures 
were those usual to ardent and hig'h-spirited men, although 
his delicate constitution seemed to forbid the indulgence of 
hunting, tennis, and the other violent exercises in v/hich he 
delighted. He was highly accomplished ; spoke five different 
lano'uages with elegance and fluency ; and had made consid- 
erable progress in mathematics, and other abstract sciences. 
His ambition knew no bounds. Had he reigned over a mon- 
archy as absolute king, he would most probably have gone 
down to posterity a conqueror and a hero. But, unfitted to 
direct a republic as its first citizen, he has left but the name 
of a rash a,nd unconstitutional magistrate. From the moment 
of his accession to power, he was made sensible of the jealousy 
and suspicion with which his office and his character were 
observed by the provincial states of Holland. Many instances 
of this disposition were accumulated to his great disgust ; 
and he was not long in evincing his determination to brave 
all the odium and reproach of despotic designs, and to risk 
every thing for the establishment of absolute power. The 
province of Holland, arrogating to itself the greatest share 
in the reforms of the army, and the financial arrangements 
called for by the transition from war to peace, was soon in 
fierce opposition with the states-general, which supported the 
prince in his early views. Cornelius Bikker, one of the bur- 
gomasters of Amsterdam, was the leading person in the states 
of Holland ; and a circumstance soon occurred v^hich put him 
and the stadtholder in collision, and quickly decided the great 
question at issue. 

The admiral Cornellizon de Witt arrived from Brazil with 
the remains of his fleet, and without the consent of the coun- 
cil of regency there established by the states-general. He 
was instantly arrested by order of the prince of Orange, in 
his capacity of high-admiral. The admiralty of Amsterdam 
was at the same time ordered by the states-general to im- 
prison six of the captains of this fleet. The states of Holland 
maintained that this was a violation of their provincial rights, 
and an illegal assumption of power on the part of the states- 
general; and the magistrates of Amsterdam forced the prison 
doors, and set the captains at liberty. William, backed by 
the authority of the states-general, now put himself at the 
head of a deputation from that body, and made a rapid tour 
of visitation to the different chief towns of the republic, to 
sound the depths of public opmion on the matters in dispute. 
The deputation met with varied success ; but the result 



2^2 HISTOKY OF THE NETIIEKL.VXDS. .1 G50. 

proved to the irritated prince that no measures of compromise 
were to be expected, and that force alone was to arbitrate 
the question. The army was to a man devoted to him. The 
states-general gave him their entire, and somewhat servile, 
support. He, therefore, on his own authority, arrested the 
six deputies of Holland, in the same way that his uncle Mau- 
rice had seized on Barneveldt, Grotius, and the others ; and 
they were immediately conveyed to the castle of Louvestein. 

In adopting this bold and unauthorized measure, he de- 
cided on an immediate attempt to gain possession of the city 
of Amsterdam, the central point of opposition to his violent 
designs. William Frederick, count of Nassau, stadtholder 
of Friesland, at the head of a numerous detachment of troops, 
marched secretly and by night to surprise the town : but the 
darkness, and a violent thunder-storm having caused the 
greater number to lose their way, the count found himself at 
dawn at the city gates with a very insufficient force ; and had 
the farther mortification to see the walls well manned, the 
cannon pointed, the drawbridges raised, and every, thing in a 
state of defence. The courier from Hamburgh, who had 
passed through the scattered bands of soldiers during the 
night, had given the alarm. The first notion was, that a 
roving band of Swedish or Lorraine troops, attracted by the 
opulence of Amsterdam, had resolved on an attempt to seize 
and pillage it. The magistrates could scarcely credit the 
evidence of day, which showed them the count of Nassau, 
and his force on their hostile mission. A short conference 
with the deputies from the citizens, convinced him that a 
speedy retreat was the only measure of safety for himself 
and his force, as the sluices of the dikes were in part opened, 
and a threat of submerging the intended assailants only re- 
quired a moment more to be enforced. 

Nothing could exceed the disappointment and irritation of 
the prince of Orange consequent on this transaction. He at 
first threatened, then negotiated, and finally patched up the 
matter in a manner the least mortifying to his wounded 
pride. Bikker nobly offered himself for a peace-offering, and 
voluntarily resigned his employments in the city he had 
saved ; and De Witt and his officers were released. Wil- 
liam was in some measure consoled for his disgrace by the 
condolence of the army, the thanks of the province of Zeal 
and, and a new treaty with France, strengthened by prom- 
ises of future support fi-om cardinal Mazarin ; but, before he 
could profit by these encouraging symptoms, domestic and 
foreign, a premature death cut short all his projects of am- 
bition. Over-violent exercise in a cjlwoi-ino- nartv in Guelders. 



1050. DEATH OF WILLIAM II. 233 

brought on a fever, which soon terminated in an attack of 
small-pox. On the first appearance of his illness, he was re- 
moved to the Hague ; and he died there on the 6th of No- 
vember, 1650, aged twenty-four years and six months.* 

The death of this prince left the state without a stadt- 
holder, and the army without a chief The whole of Europe 
shared more or less in the joy or the regret it caused. The 
epublican party, both in Holland and in England, rejoiced in 
a circumstance which threw back the sovereign power mto 
the hands of the nation ;f the partisans of the house of Orange 
deeply, lamented the event. But the birth of a son, of which 
the widowed princess of Orange was delivered within a week 
of her husband's death, revived the hopes of those who mourn- 
ed his loss, and offered her the only consolation which could 
assuage her grief This child was, however, the innocent 
cause of a breach between his mother and grandmother, the 
dowager princess, who had never been cordially attached to 
each other.J Each claimed the guardianship of the young 
prince ; and the dispute was at length decided by the States, 
who adjudged the important office to the elector of Branden- 
burgh and the two princesses jointly. § The states of Holland 
soon exercised their influence on the other provinces. Many 
of the prerogatives of the stadtholder were now assumed by 
the people ; and, with the exception of Zealand, which made 
an ineffectual attempt to name the infant prince to the digni- 
ty of his ancestors under the title of William III., a perfect 
unanimity seemed to have reconciled all opposing interests. 
The various towns secured the privileges of appointing their 
own magistrates, and the direction of the army and navy de- 
volved to the states-general. 

The time was now arrived when the wisdom, the courage, 
and the resources of the republic were to be put once more 
to the test, in a contest hitherto without example, and never 
since equalled in its nature. The naval wars between Hol- 
land and England had their real source in the inveterate 
jealousies and unbounded ambition of both countries, recipro- 
cally convinced that a joint supremacy at sea was incompatible 
with their interests and their honor, and each resolved to risk 
every thing for their mutual pretensions — to perish rather 
than yield. The United Provinces were assuredly not the 
aggressors in this quarrel. They had made sure of their ca- 
pability to meet it, by the settlement of all questions of in- 
ternal government, and the solid peace which secured them 

* Wicquefort, Cerisier, &.c. t Milton, Defens. Pop. Angl. 

X Wicquefort, liv. i. p. 781. § Cerisier. 



234 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. J 652. 

against any attack on the part of their old and inveterate 
enemy : but they did not seek a rupture. They at first en- 
deavoured to ward off the threatened danger by every effort 
of conciliation; and they met, with temperate management, 
even the advances made by Cromwell, at the instigation of 
St. John, the chief justice, for a proposed, yet impracticable 
coalition between the two republics, which was to make 
them one and indivisible. An embassy to the Hague, with 
St. John and Strickland at its head, was received with all 
public honors ; but the partisans of the families of Orange 
and Stuart, and the populace generally, openly insulted the 
ambassadors,* About the same time Dorislas, a Dutchman 
naturalized in England, and sent on a mission from the par- 
liament, was murdered at the Hague by some Scotch officers, 
friends of the banished king ; the massacre of Amboyna, 
thirty years before, was made a cause of revived complaint ; 
and altogether a sum of injuries was easily made up to turn 
the proposed fantastic coalition into a fierce and bloody war.f 

The parliament of England soon found a pretext in an out- 
rageous measure, under pretence of providing for the inter- 
ests of commerce. They passed the celebrated act of navi- 
gation, which prohibited all nations from importing into 
England in their ships any commodity which was not the 
growth and manufacture of their own country. This law, 
though worded generally, was aimed directly at the Dutch, 
who were the general factors and carriers of Europe. | Ships 
were seized, reprisals made, the mockery of negotiation car- 
ried on, fleets equipped, and at length the war broke out. 

In the month of May, 1652, the Dutch admiral Tromp, 
commanding forty-two ships of war, met with the English 
fleet under Blake in the straits of Dover ; the latter, though 
much inferior in number, gave a signal to the Dutch admiral 
to strike, the usual salutation of honor accorded to the Eng- 
lish during the monarchy. Totally different versions have been 
given by the two admirals of what followed. Blake insisted 
that Tromp, instead of complying, fired a broadside at his 
vessel; 5 Tromp stated that a second and a third bullet were 
sent promptly from the British ship while he was preparing 
to obey the admiral's claim. 1| The discharge of the first 
broadside is also a matter of contradiction, and of course of 
doubt. But it is of small consequence ; for whether hostili- 
ties had been hurried on or delayed, they were ultimately 
inevitable. A bloody battle began: it lasted five hours. The 

* Clarendon, vol. V. p. 168. j Hu™e. J Idem, vol. vii. p 211. 

§ Idem, vol. vii. p. 212. \\ Wicquefort, liv. vi. p. 323. 



1653. NAVAL WAR WITH ENGLAND. 235 

inferiority in number on the side of the English was balanced 
by the larger size of their ships. One Dutch vessel was 
sunk ; another taken ; and night parted the combatants. 

The states-general heard the news with consternation:* 
they dispatched the grand pensionary Pauw on a special em- 
bassy to London. The imperious parliament would hear of 
neitiier reason nor remonstrance.f Right or wrong, they 
were resolved on war. Blake was soon at sea again with a 
numerous fleet ; Tromp followed with a hundred ships ; but 
a violent tempest separated these furious enemies, and re- 
tarded for a while the rencounter they mutually longed for. 
On the 16th of August a battle took place between Sir George 
Ayscue and the renowned De Ruyter, near Plymouth, each 
with about forty ships ; but with no decisive consequences. 
On the 28th of October, Blake, aided by Bourn and Pen, met 
a Dutch squadron of nearly equal force off the coast of Kent, 
under De Ruyter and De Witt. The fight which followed 
was also severe, but not decisive, though the Dutch had the 
worst of the day. In the Mediterranean, the Dutch admiral 
Van Galen defeated the English captain Baddely, but bought 
the victory with his life. And, on the 29th of November, 
another bloody conflict took place between Blake and Tromp 
seconded by De Ruyter, near the Goodwm Sands. In this 
determined action Blake was wounded and defeated ; five 
English ships taken, burnt, or sunk; and night saved the 
fleet from destruction. After this victory Tromp placed a 
broom at his mast-head, as if to intimate that he would sweep 
the channel free of all English ships.]: 

Great preparations were made in England to recover this 
disgrace; eighty sail put to sea under Blake, Dean, and 
Monk, so celebrated subsequently as the restorer of the mon- 
archy. Tromp and De Ruyter, with seventy-six vessels, 
were descried on the 18th of February, escorting three hun- 
dred merchantmen up Channel. Three days of desperate 
fighting ended in the defeat of the Dutch, who lost ten ships 
of war and twenty-four merchant vessels. Several of the 
English ships were disabled, one sunk ; and the carnage on 
both sides was nearly equal. Tromp acquired prodigious 
honor by this battle ; having succeeded, though defeated, in 
saving, as has been seen, almost the whole of his immense 
convoy. On the 12th of June and the day following two 
other actions were fought : in the first of which the English 
admiral Dean was killed; in the second, Monk, Pen, and 

♦ Cerisier. t Hume. t Idem. 



i 



236 HISTOKT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1653. 

Law son amply revenged his death, by forcing the Dutch to 
regain their harbors with great loss. 

The 21st of July was the last of these bloody and obstinate 
conflicts for superiority. Tromp issued out once more, deter- 
mined to conquer or die. He met the enemy off Scheveling, 
commanded by Monk. Both fleets rushed to the combat. The 
heroic Dutchman, animating his sailors with his sword drawn, 
was shot through the heart with a musket-ball. This event, 
and this alone, won the battle, which was the most decisive 
of the whole war. The enemy captured or sunk nearly 
thirty ships. The body of Tromp was carried with great 
solemnity to the church of Delft, where a magnificent mau- 
soleum was erected over the remains of this euiinently brave 
and distinguished man. 

This memorable defeat, and the death of this great naval 
hero, added to the injury done to their trade, induced the 
states-general to seek terms from their too powerful enemy. 
The want of peace was felt throughout the whole country. 
Cromwell was not averse to grant it ; but he insisted on con- 
ditions every way disadvantageous and humiliating. He had 
revived his chimerical scheme of a total conjunction of gov- 
ernment, privileges, and interests between the two republics. 
This was firmly rejected by John de Witt, now grand pen- 
sionary of Holland, and by the States under his influence. 
But the Dutch consented to a defensive league ; to punish 
the survivors of those concerned in the massacre of Amboyna ; 
to pay 9000/. of indemnity for vessels seized in the Sound, 
5000Z. for the affair of Amboyna, and 85,000/. to the English 
East India company ; to cede to them the island of Polerone 
in the East; to yield the honor of the national flag to the 
English ; and, finally, that neither the young prince of Orange 
nor any of his family should ever be invested with the dig- 
nity of stadtholder.* These two latter conditions were cer- 
tainly degrading to Holland ; and the conditions of the treaty 
prove that an absurd point of honor was the only real cause 
for the short but bloody and ruinous war w^hich plunged the 
Provinces into overwhelming difficulties. 

For several years after the conclusion of this inglorious 
peace, universal discontent and dissension spread throughout 
the republic. The supporters of the house of Orange, and 
every impartial friend of the national honor, were indignant 
at the act of exclusion. Murmurs and revolts broke out in 
several towns ; and all was once more tumult, agitation, and 
doubt. No event of considerable miportance marks particu- 

*Hume, vol, vii. p. 236. 

\ 



165G. HOSTILITIES WITH SWEDEN. 237 

larly this epoch of domestic trouble. A new war was at last 
pronounced inevitable, and was the means, of appeasing the 
distractions of the people, and reconciling- by degrees con- 
tending parties. Denmark, the ancient ally of the republic, 
was threatened with destruction by Charles Gustavus king 
of Sweden, who held Copenhagen in blockade. The interests 
of Holland were in imminent peril should the Swedes gain 
the passage of the Sound. This double motive influenced 
De Witt ; and he persuaded the states-general to send admiral 
Opdam with a considerable fleet to the Baltic. This intrepid 
successor of the immortal Tromp soon came to blows with a 
rival worthy to meet him. Wrangel the Swedish admiral, 
VvHth a superior force, defended the passage of the Sound ; 
and the two castles of Cronenberg and Elsenberg supported 
his fleet with their tremendous fire. But Opdam resolutely 
advanced : though suffering extreme anguish from an attack 
of gout, he had himself carried on deck, where he gave his 
orders with the most admirable coolness and precision, in the 
midst of danger and carnage. The rival monarchs witnessed 
the battle ; the kmg of Sweden from the castle of Cronen- 
berg, and the king of Denmark from the summit of the 
highest tower in his besieged capital. A brilliant victory 
crowned the efforts of the Dutch admiral, dearly bought by 
the death of his second in command the brave De Witt, and 
Peter Florizon another admiral of note. Relief was poured 
into Copenhagen. Opdam was replaced in the command, too 
arduous for his infirmities, by the still more celebrated De 
Ruyter, who was greatly distinguished by his valor in several 
successive affairs : and after some months more of useless ob- 
stinacy, the king of Sweden, seeing his army perish in the 
island of Funen, by a combined attack of those of Holland 
and Denmark, consented to a peace highly favorable to the 
latter power.* 

These transactions placed the United Provinces on a still 
higher pinnacle of glory than they had ever reached. Intes- 
tine disputes were suddenly calmed. The Algerines and 
other pirates were swept from the seas by a succession of 
small but vigorous expeditions. The mediation of the States 
re-established peace in several of the petty states of Germany. 
England and France were both held in check, if not pre- 

erved in friendship, by the dread of their recovered power. 

Trade and finance were reorganized. Every thing seemed to 
promise a long-continued peace and growing greatness, much 
of which was owing to the talents and persevering energy of 

* Cerisier. 



238 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1665. 

De Witt ; and, to complete the good work of European tran- 
quillity, the French and Spanish monarchs concluded in this 
year the treaty known by the name of the " peace of the 
Pyrenees." 

Cromwell had now closed his career, and Charles 11. was 
restored to the throne from which he had so long been ex- 
cluded. The complimentary entertainments rendered to the 
restored king- in Holland were on the proudest scale of ex- 
pense. He left the country which had given him refuge in 
misfortune, and done him honor in his prosperity, with pro- 
fuse expressions of regard and gratitude. Scarcely was he 
established in his recovered kingdom, when a still greater 
testimony of deference to his wishes was paid, by the states- 
general formally annulling the act of exclusion against the 
house of Orange. A variety of motives, however, acting on 
the easy and plastic mind of the monarch, soon effaced what- 
ever of gratitude he had at first conceived. He readily en- 
tered into the views of the English nation, which was irri- 
tated by the great commercial superiority of Holland, and a 
jealousy excited by its close connexion with France at this 
period. 

It was not till the 22d of February, 1665, that war was 
formally declared against the Dutch ; but many previous acts 
of hostility had taken place in expeditions against their set- 
tlements on the coast of Africa and in America, which were 
retaliated by De Ruyter with vigor and success. The Dutch 
used every possible means of avoiding the last extremities. 
De Witt employed all the powers of his great capacity to 
avert the evil of war ; but nothing could finally prevent it. 
and the sea was once more to witness the conflict between 
those who claimed its sovereignty. A great battle was fought 
on the 31st of June. The duke of York, afterwards James II., 
commanded the British fleet, and had under him the earl of 
Sandwich and prince Rupert. The Dutch were led on by 
Opdam ; and the victory was decided in favor of the English 
by the blowing up of that admiral's ship, with himself and his 
whole crew. The loss of the Dutch was altogether nineteen 
ships. De Witt the pensionary then took in person the com- 
mand of the fleet, which was soon equipped ; and he gave a 
high proof of the adaptation of genius to a pursuit previously 
unknown, by the rapid knowledge and the practical improve- 
ments he introduced into some of the most intricate branches 
of naval tactics.* 

Immense efforts were now made by England, but with a 

* Hume. 



1666. NAVAL OPEKATIONS. 239 

very questionable policy, to induce Louis XIV. to join in the 
war. Charles offered to allow of his acquiring the whole of 
the Spanish Netherlands, provided he would leave him with- 
out interruption to destroy the Dutch navy, (and, consequent- 
ly, their commerce,) in the by no means certain expectation 
that its advantages would all fall to the share of England. 
But the king of France resolved to support the republic. The 
king of Denmark, too, formed an alliance with them, after a 
series of the most strange tergiversations.* Spain, reduced 
to feebleness, and menaced with invasion by France, showed 
no alacrity to meet Charles's overtures for an offensive 
treaty. Van Galen bishop of Munster, a restless prelate, was 
the only ally he could acquire. This bishop, at the head of a 
tumultuous force of 20,000 men, penetrated into Friesland ; 
but 6000 French were dispatched by Louis to the assistance 
of the republic, and this impotent invasion was easily repelled. 

The republic, encouraged by all these favorable circum- 
stances, resolved to put forward its utmost energies. Internal 
discords were once more appeased ; the harbors were crowded 
with merchant-ships ; the young prince of Orange had put 
himself under the tuition of the States of Holland and of De 
Witt, w^ho faithfully executed his trust ; and De Ruyter was 
ready to lead on the fleet. The English, in spite of the dread- 
ful calamity of the great fire of London, the plague which 
desolated the city, and a declaration of war on the part of 
France, prepared boldly for the shock. 

The Dutch fleet, commanded by De Ruyter and Tromp, 
the gallant successor of his father's fame, were soon at sea. 
The English, under prince Rupert and Monk, now duke of 
Albemarle, did not lie idle in port. A battle of four days' 
continuance, one of the most determined and terrible up to 
this period on record, was the consequence. The Dutch claim, 
and it appears with justice, to have had the advantage.f But 
a more decisive conflict took place on the 25th of July,| when 
a victory was gained by the English, the enemy having three 
of their admirals killed. " My God !" exclaimed De Ruyter, 
during this desperate fight, and seeing the certainty of defeat; 
" what a wretch I am ! Among so many thousand bullets, is 
there not one to put an end to my miserable life ]" 

The king of France hastened forward in this crisis to the 
assistance of the republic ; and De Witt, by a deep stroke of 



* Hume, vol. vii. p, 408. t Hume. 

J In all these naval battles we have followed Hume and the English his- 
torians as to dates, which, in almost every instance, are strangely at variance 
v/ith those given by the Dutch writers. 



240 



HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



166: 



policy, amused the English with negotiation while a powerful 
fleet was fitted out. It suddenly appeared in the Thames, 
under the command of De Ruyter, and all England was thrown 
into consternation. The Dutch took Sheerness, and burned 
many ships of war ; almost insulting the capital itself in 
their predatory incursion.* Had the French power joined 
that of the Provinces at this time, and invaded England, the 
most fatal results to that kingdom might have taken place. 
But the alarm soon subsided with the disappearance of the 
hostile fleet ; and the signing the peace of Breda, on the 10th 
of July, 1667, extricated Charles from his present difficulties. 
The island of Polerone was restored to the Dutch, and the 
point of maritime superiority was, on this occasion, undoubt- 
edly theirs. 

While Holland was preparing to indulge in the luxury of 
national repose, the death of Philip IV. of Spain, and the 
startling ambition of Louis XIV., brought war once more to 
their very doors, and soon even forced it across the threshold 
of the republic. The king of France, setting at naught his 
solemn renunciation at the peace of the Pyrenees of all clanns 
to any part of the Spanish territories in right of his wife, who 
was daughter of the late king, found excellent reasons (for 
his own satisfaction) to invade a material portion of tliat de- 
clining monarchy. Well prepared by the financial and mili- 
tary foresight of Colbert for his great design, he suddenly 
poured a powerful army, under Turenne, into Brabant and 
Flanders ; quickly over-ran and took possession of these prov- 
inces; and, in the space of three weeks, added Franche- 
Comte to his conquests.! Europe was in universal alarm at 
these unexpected measures ; and no state felt more terror 
than the republic of the United Provinces. The interest of 
all countries seemed now to require a coalition against the 
power which had abandoned the house of Austria only to set- 
tle on France. The first measure to this effect was the 
signing of the triple league between Holland, Sweden, and 
England, at the Hague, on the 13th of January, 1668. But 
this proved to be one of the most futile confederations on re- 
cord. Charles, with almost unheard-of perfidy throughout the 
transaction, fell in with the designs of his pernicious,| and on 
this occasion purchased, cabinet,^ called the Cabal ; and he 
entered into a secret treaty with France, in the very teeth Oi 
his other engagements. Sweden was dissuaded from the 
league by the arguments of the French ministers ; and Hol- 



* Temple, vol. iii. p. 40. &.c. 
iGourville, M6m. t. ii. p. II. 



t De Neny, M6ra. t. ii p. 29. 
5 Temple, vol. ii, p, 179. 



1672, THE FRENCH INVADE HOLLAND. 241 

land in a short time found itself involved in a double war with 
its late allies. 

A base and piratical attack on the Dutch Smyrna fleet, by 
a large force under Sir Robert Holmes, on the 13th of March, 
1672, was the first overt act of treachery on the part of the 
English government. The attempt completely failed, through 
the prudence and valor of the Dutch admirals ; and Charles 
reaped only the double shame of perfidy and defeat. He in- 
stantly issued a declaration of war against the republic, on 
reasoning too palpably false to require refutation, and too 
frivolous to merit record to the exclusion of more important 
matter from our narrow limits. 

Louis at least covered with the semblance of dignity his 
unjust co-operation in this violence. He soon advanced with 
his army, and the contingents of Munster and Cologne, his 
allies, amounting altogether to nearly 170,000 men, com- 
manded by Conde, Turenne, Luxembourg, and others of the 
greatest generals of France.* Never was any country less 
prepared than were the United Provinces to resist this for- 
midable aggression. Their army was as naught ; their long 
cessation of military operations by land having totally demor- 
alized that once invincible branch of their forces. No gen- 
eral existed who knew any thing of the practice of war. 
Their very stores of ammunition had been delivered over, 
in the way of traffic, to the enemy who now prepared to over 
whelm them. De Witt w^as severely, and not quite unjustly, 
blamed for having suffered the country to be thus taken by 
surprise, utterly defenceless, and apparently without resource. 
Envy of his uncommon merit aggravated the just complaints 
against his error. But, above all things, the popular affection 
to the young prince tlireatened, in some great convulsion, the 
overthrow of the pensionary, who was considered eminently 
hostile to the illustrious house of Orange.f 

William III, prince of Orange, now twenty-two years of 
age, was amply endowed with those hereditary qualities of 
valor and wisdom which only required experience to give him 
rank with the greatest of his ancestors. The Louvenstein 
party, as the adherents of the house of Orange w^ere called, 
now easily prevailed in their long-conceived design of placing 
him at the head of affairs, with the titles of captain-general 
and high admiral. De Witt, anxious from personal considera- 
tions, as well as patriotism, to employ every means of active 
exertion, attempted the organization of an army, and hastened 
the equipment of a formidable fleet of nearly a hundred ships 

♦ De Nenv, M6m. t Hume. 

16 



242 HISTORY OF THE NETHJERLAND3. 1672. 

of the line and half as many fire-ships. De Ruyter, now 
without exception the greatest commander of the age, set 
sail with this force in search of the combined fleets of Eng- 
land and France, commanded by the duke of York and 
marshal D'Etrees. He encountered them, on the 6th of May, 
1672, at Solebay. A most bloody engagement was the result 
of this meeting. Sandwich, on the side of the English, and 
Van Ghent, a Dutch admiral, were slain.* The glory of the 
day was divided ; the victory doubtful : but the sea was not 
the element on which the fate of Holland was to be decided. 

The French armies poured like a torrent into the territo- 
ries of the republic. Rivers were passed, towns taken, and 
provinces over-run, with a rapidity much less honorable to 
France than disgraceful to Holland, No victory was gained 
— no resistance offered ; and it is disgusting to look back on 
the fulsome panegyrics with which courtiers and poets lauded 
Louis for those facile and inglorious triumphs. The prince 
of Orange had received the command of a nominal army of 
70,000 men ; but with this undisciplined and discouraged 
mass he could attempt nothing. He prudently retired into 
the province of Holland, vainly hoping that the numerous 
fortresses on the frontiers would have offered some resistance 
to the enemy. Guelders, Overyssel, and Utrecht, were al- 
ready in Louis's hands. Groningen and Friesland were 
threatened. Holland and Zealand opposed obstruction to 
such rapid conquest from their natural position ; and Amster- 
dam set a noble example to the remaining towns — forming a 
regular and energetic plan of defence, and endeavoring to 
infuse its spirit into the rest. The sluices, those desperate 
sources at once of safety and desolation, Vv ere opened ; the 
whole country submerged ; and the other provinces following 
this example, extensive districts of fertility and wealth were 
given to the sea, for the exclusion of which so many centuries 
had scarcely sufficed. 

The states-general now assembled, and it was decided to 
supplicate for peace at the hands of the combined monarchs. 
The haughty insolence of Louvois coinciding with the 
temper of Louis himself, made the latter propose the follow- 
ing conditions as the price of peace ; — to take off all duties 
on commodities exported into Holland ; to grant the free ex- 
ercise of the Romish religion in the United Provmces ; to 
share the churches with the Catholics, and to pay their 
priests ; to yield up all the frontier towns, with several in the 
heart of the republic ; to pay him 20,000,000 livres ; to send 



1672. MASSACRE OF THE DE WITTS. 243 

him every year a solemn embassy, accompanied by a present 
of a golden medal, as an acknowledgment that they owe J 
him their liberty; and, finally, that they should give entire 
satisfaction to the king of England. 

Charles, on his part, after the most insulting treatment of 
the ambassadors sent to London, required, amongst other 
terms, that the Dutch should give up the honor of the flag with- 
out reserve, whole fleets being expected, even on the coasts 
of Holland, to lower their top-sails to the smallest ship under 
British colors ; that the Dutch should pay 1,000,OOOL sterling 
towards the charges of the war, and 10,000?. a year for per- 
mission to fish in the British seas ; that they should share the 
Indian trade with tlie English ; and that Walcheren and sev- 
eral other islands should be put into the king's hands as 
security for the performance of the articles.* 

The insatiable monarchs overshot the mark. Existence 
was not worth preserving on these intolerable terms. Holland 
was driven to desperation ; and even the people of England 
were inspired with indignation at this monstrous injustice. 
In the republic a violent explosion of popular excess took 
place. The people now saw no safety but in the courage and 
talents of the prince of Orange. He was tumultuously pro- 
claimed stadtholder. De Witt and his brother Cornells, the 
conscientious but too obstinate opponents of this measure of 
salvation, fell victims to the popular frenzy. The latter, 
condemned to banishment on an atrocious charge of intended 
assassination against the prince of Orange, was visited in his 
prison at the Hague by the grand pensionary. The rabble, 
incited to fury by the calumnies spread against these two 
virtuous citizens, broke into the prison, forced the unfortunate 
brothers into the street, and there literally tore them to 
pieces with circumstances of the most brutal ferocity. This 
horrid scene took place on the 27th of August, 1672. 

The massacre of the De Witts completely destroyed the 
party of which they were the head. All men now united 
under the only leader left to the country. William showed 
himself well worthy of the trust, and of his heroic blood. He 
turned his whole force against the enemy. He sought no- 
thing for himself but the glory of saving his country ; and 
taking his ancestors for models, in the best points of their 
respective characters, he combined prudence with energy, 
and firmness with moderation. His spirit inspired all ranks 
of men. The conditions of peace demanded by the partner 
kings were rejected with scorn. The whole nation was 

* Hume, vol. vii, pp. 493, 494. 



244 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1672. 

moved by one concentrated principle of heroism ; and it was 
even resolved to put the ancient notion of the first William 
into practice, and abandon the country to the waves, sooner 
than submit to the political annihilation with which it was 
threatened. The capability of the vessels in their harbors 
was calculated ; and they were found sufficient to transport 
200,000 families to the Indian settlements. We must hasten 
from this sublime picture of national desperation. The glo- 
rious hero who stands in its foreground was inaccessible to 
every overture of corruption. Buckingham, the English am- 
bassador, offered him, on the part of England and France, the 
independent sovereignty of Holland, if he would abandon the 
other provinces to their grasp ; and, urging his consent, asked 
him if he did not see that the republic was ruined ] " There 
is one means," replied the prince of Orange, " which will 
save me from the sight of my country's ruin — I will die in 
the last ditch."* 

Action soon proved the reality of the prince's profession. 
He took the field ; having first punished with death some of 
the cowardly commanders of the frontier towns. He besieged 
and took Naarden, an important place ; and, by a masterly 
movement, formed a junction with Montecuculi, whom the 
emperor Leopold had at length sent to his assistance with 
20,000 men. Groningen repulsed the bishop of Munster, the 
ally of France, with a loss of 12,000 men. The king of Spain 
(such are the strange fluctuations of political friendship and 
enmity) sent the count of Monterey, governor of the Belgian 
provinces, with 10,000 men to support the Dutch army. The 
elector of Brandenburg also lent them aid. The whole face 
of affairs was changed ; and Louis was obliged to abandon all 
his conquests with more rapidity than he had made them. 
Two desperate battles at sea, on the 28th of May and the 4th 
of June, hi which De Ruyter and prince Rupert again distin- 
guished themselves, only proved the valor of the combatants, 
leaving victory still doubtful. England was with one common 
feeling ashamed of the odious war in which the king and his 
unworthy ministers had engaged the nation. Charles was 
forced to make peace on the conditions proposed by the 
Dutch. The honor of the flag was yielded to the English ; a 
regulation of trade was agreed to ; alJ possessions were re- 
stored to the same condition as before the war ; and the states- 
general agreed to pay the king 800,000 patacoons, or nearly 
300,000Z. 

With these encouraging results from the prince of Orange's 
influence and example, Holland persevered in the. contest 

* Hume. 



1676. CONGRESS AT NIMEGUEIV. 245 

with France. He, in the first place, made head, during a 
winter campaign in Holland, against marshal Luxembourg, 
v/ho had succeeded Turenne in the Low Countries, the lat- 
ter being obliged to march against the imperialists in West- 
phalia. He next advanced to oppose the great Conde, who 
occupied Brabant with an army of 45,000 men. After much 
manoeuvring, in which the prince of Orange displayed con- 
summate talent, he on one only occasion exposed a part of his 
army to a disadvantageous contest. Conde seized on the 
error ; and of his own accord gave the battle to which his 
young opponent could not succeed in forcing him. The bat- 
tle of Senef is remarkable not merely for the fury with which 
it was fought, or for its leaving victory undecided, but as be- 
mg the last combat of one commander and the first of the 
other. " The prince of Orange," said the veteran Conde 
(who had that day exposed his person more than on any pre- 
vious occasion,) " has acted in every thing like an old cap- 
tain, except venturing his life too like a young soldier." 

The campaign of 1675 ofiered no remarkable event ; the 
prince of Orange with great prudence avoiding the risk of a 
battle. But the following year was rendered fatally remark- 
able by the death of the great De Ruyter,* who was killed in 
an action against the French fleet in the Mediterranean : and 
about the same time the not less celebrated Turenne met his 
death from a cannon-ball, in the midst of his triumphs in Ger- 
many. This year was doubly occupied in a negotiation for 
peace and an active prosecution of the war. Louis, at the 
head of his army, took several towns in Belgium : William 
was unsuccessful in an attempt on Maestricht. About the 
beginning of winter, the plenipotentiaries of the several bel- 
ligerents assembled at Nimeguen, where the congress for 
peace was held. The Hollanders, loaded with debts and 
taxes, and seeing the weakness and slowness of their allies 
the Spaniards and Germans, prognosticated nothing but mis- 
fortunes. Their commerce languished ; while that of Eng- 
land, now neutral amidst all these quarrels, flourished ex- 
tremely. The prince of Orange, however, ambitious of 
glory, urged another campaign ; and it commenced accord- 
ingly. 

In the middle of February, Louis carried Valenciennes by 
storm, and laid siege to St. Omer and Cambray. William, 
though full of activity, courage, and skill, was, nevertheless, 
almost always unsuccessful in the field, and never more so 

* The council of Spain gaveDe Ruyter the title antl letters patent of duke. 
The latter arrived in Holland after his death; and his children, with true re- 
imblican spirit, refused to adopt the title. 



246 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1678 

than in this campaign. Several towns fell almost in his 
sight ; and he was completely defeated in the great battle of 
mount Cassel, by the duke of Orleans and marshal Luxem- 
bourg. But the period for another peace was now approach- 
ing. Louis offered fair terms for the acceptance of the United 
Provinces at the congress of Nimeguen, April, 1678, as he 
now considered his chief enemies Spain and the empire, who 
had at first only entered into the war as auxiliaries. He was, 
no doubt, principally impelled in his measures by the mar- 
riage of the prince of Orange with the lady Mary, eldest 
daughter of the duke of York, and heir presumptive to the 
English crown, which took place on the 23d of October, to 
the great joy of both the Dutch and English nations. Charles 
was at this moment the arbiter of the peace of Europe ; and 
though several fluctuations took place in his policy in the 
course of a few months, as the urgent wishes of the parlia- 
ment and the large presents of Louis differently actuated 
him,* still the wiser and more just course prevailed, and he 
finally decided the balance by vigorously declaring his reso- 
lution for peace ; and the treaty was consequently signed at 
Nimeguen, on the 10th of August, 1678. The prince of 
Orange, from private motives of spleen, or a most unjustifiable 
desire for fighting, took the extraordinary measure of attack- 
ing the French troops under Luxembourg, near Mons, on the 
very day after the signing of this treaty. He must have 
known it, even though it were not officially notified to him ; 
and he certainly had to answer for all the blood so wantonly 
spilt in the sharp though undecisive action which ensued.f 
Spain, abandoned to her fate, was obliged to make the best 
terms she could ; and on the 17th of September she also con- 
cluded a treaty with France, on conditions entirely favorable 
to the latter power. | 



CHAP. XX. 
1678—1713. 

FROM THE PEACK OF NIMEGUEN TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 

A FEW years passed over after this period, without the oc- 
currence of any transaction sufficiently important to require 
a mention here. Each of the powers so lately at war fol- 
lowed the various bent of their respective ambition. Charles 
of England was sufficiently occupied by disputes with parlia- 
ment, and the discovery, fabrication, and punishment of plots, 

+ Palrymple's App. p. 112, f Hume, &.c. } De Neny. 

\ 



1685. DEATH OF CHARLES TI. 247 

real or pretended. Louis XIV., by a stretch of audacious 
pride hitherto unknown, arrogated to himself the supreme 
power of regulating the rest of Europe, as if all the other 
princes were his vassals. He established courts, or chambers 
of reunion as they were called, in Metz and Brisac, which 
cited princes, issued decrees, and authorized spoliation, in the 
most unjust and arbitrary manner.* Louis chose to award to 
himself Luxembourg, Chiny, and a considerable portion of 
Brabant and Flanders.f He marched a considerable army 
into Belgium, which the Spanish governors were unable to 
oppose. The prince of Orange, who labored incessantly to 
excite a confederacy among the other powers of Europe 
against the unwarrantable aggressions of France, was unable 
to arouse his countrymen to actual war; and was forced, in- 
stead of gaining the glory he longed for, to consent to a truce 
for tvv'enty years, which the states-general, now wholly pa- 
cific and not a little cowardly, were too happy to obtain from 
France. The emperor and the king of Spain gladly entered 
into a like treaty.! The fact was, that the peace of Nime- 
guen had disjointed the great confederacy which William 
had so successfully brought about ; and the various powers 
were laid utterly prostrate at the feet of the imperious Louis, 
who for a while held the destinies of Europe in his hands. 

Charles IL died most unexpectedly in the year 1685 ; and 
his obstinately bigoted and unconstitutional successor, James 
IL, seemed, during a reign of not four years' continuance, to 
rush wilfully headlong to ruin. During this period, the 
prince of Orange had maintained a most circumspect and un- 
exceptionable line of conduct ; steering clear of all interfe- 
rence with English affairs : giving offence to none of the po- 
litical factions; and observing in every instance the duty and 
regard which he owed to his father-in-law. § During Mon- 
mouth's invasion he had dispatched to James's assistance six 
regiments of British troops which were in the Dutch service, 
and he offered to take the command of the king's forces 
against the rebels. It was from the application of James 
himself that William took any part in English affairs ;|| for 
he was more widely and much more congenially emplo5^ed 
in the establishment of a fresh league against France. Louis 
had aroused a new feeling throughout Protestant Europe, by 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The refugees whom 
he had driven from their native country, inspired in those in 
which they settled, hatred of his persecution as well as alarm 
of his power. Holland now entered into all the views of the 

* Hume. \ Dp Neny. t Du Mont, Corps Dipl. t. vii. 

§ Hume. " II Hume. 



248 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1686. 

prince of Orange. By his immense influence he succeeded 
in formmg- the great confederacy called the League of Augs- 
bourg, to which the emperor, Spain, and almost every Euro- 
pean power but England, became parties.'^ 

James gave the prince reason to believe that he too would 
join in this great project, if William would in return concur 
in his views of domestic tyranny ; but William wisely refused. 
James, much disappointed, and irritated by the moderation 
which showed his ow^n violence in such striking contrast, ex- 
pressed his displeasure against the prince, and against the 
Dutch generally, by various vexatious acts. William resolved 
to maintain a high attitude ; and many applications were 
made to him by the most considerable persons in England for 
relief against James's violent measures, and which there was 
but one method of making effectual.f That method was 
force. But as long as the princess of Orange was certain 
of succeeding to the crown on her father's death, William 
hesitated to join in an attempt that might possibly have failed 
and lost her her inheritance. But the birth of a son, which, 
in giving James a male heir, destroyed all hope of redress for 
the kingdom, decided the wavering, and rendered the deter- 
mined desperate. The prince chose the time for his enter- 
prise with the sagacity, arranged its plan with the prudence, 
and put it into execution with the vigor, which were habitual 
qualities of his mind. 

J-iOuis XIV., menaced by the League of Augsbourg, had 
resolved to strike the first blow against the allies. He in- 
vaded Germany ; so that the Dutch preparations seemed in 
the first instance intended as measures of defence against the 
progress of the French. But Louis's envoy at the Hague 
could not be long deceived. He gave notice to his master, 
who in his turn warned James. But tha,t infatuated monarch 
not only doubted the intelligence, but refused the French 
king's offers of assistance and co-operation. On the 21st of 
October, the prince of Orange, with an army of 14,000 men, 
and a fleet of 500 vessels of all kinds, set sail from Helvoet- 
sluys; and after some delays from bad weather, he safely 
landed his army in Torbay, on the 5th of November, 1688.| 
The desertion of James's best friends ; his own consternation, 
flight, seizure, and second escape; and the solemn act by 
which he was deposed ; were the rapid occurrences of a few 
weeks : and thus the grandest revolution that England had 
ever seen was liappily consummated. Without entering- here 
on legislative leasonings or party sophisms, it is enough to 

* Hume. t D'Avaux. J Hume. 

\ 



1689. ENGLISH KE VOLUTION. 249 

record the act itself; and to say, in reference to our more im- 
mediate subject, that without the assistance of Holland and 
her glorious chief, England might have still remained en- 
slaved, or have had to purchase liberty by oceans of blood. 
By the bill of settlement, the crown was conveyed jointly to 
the prince and princess of Orange, the sole administration of 
government to remain in the prince ; and the new sovereigns 
were proclaimed on the 23d of February, 1689. The con- 
vention, which had arranged this important point, annexed to 
the settlement a declaration of rights, by which the powers 
of royal prerogative and the extent of popular privilege were 
defined and guarantied.* 

William, now become king of England, still preserved his 
title of stadtholder of Holland ; and presented the singular 
instance of a monarchy and a republic being at the same 
time governed by the same individual. But whether as a 
king or a citizen, William was actuated by one grand and 
powerful principle, to which every act of private administra- 
tion was made subservient, although it certainly called for no 
sacrifice that was not required for the political existence of 
the two nations of which he was the head. Inveterate oppo- 
sition to the power of Louis XIV. was this all-absorbing mo- 
tive. A sentiment so mighty left William but little time for 
inferior points of government, and every thing but that seems 
to have irritated and disgusted him. He was soon again on 
the Continent, the chief theatre of his efforts. He put him- 
self in front of the confederacy which resulted from the con- 
gress of Utrecht in 1690. He took the command of the allied 
army ; and till the hour of his death, he never ceased his in- 
defatigable course of hostility, whether in the camp or the 
cabinet, at the head of the allied armies, or as the guiding 
spirit of the councils which gave them force and motion. 

Several campaigns were expended, and bloody combats 
fought, almost all to the disadvantage of William, whose 
genius for war was never seconded by that good fortune which 
so often decides the fate of battles in defiance of all the cal- 
culations of talent. But no reverse had power to shake the 
constancy and courage of William. He always appeared as 
formidable after defeat as he was before action. His con- 
querors gained little but the honor of the day. Fleurus, 
Steinkerk, Herwinde, were successively the scenes of his 
evil fortune, and the sources of his fame. His retreats were 
master-strokes of vigilant activity and profound combinations. 
Many eminent sieges took place during this war. Among 
other towns, Mons and Namur were taken by the French, 

* Hume. 



250 HISTORY OF THE AETHERLANDS, J 697. 

and Huy by the allies ; and the army of marshal Villeroi 
bombarded Brussels during three days, in August, 1695, with 
such fury that the town-house, fourteen churches, and 4000 
houses, were reduced to ashes. The year following this event 
saw another undecisive campaign. During the continuance 
of this war, the naval transactions present no grand results. 
Du Bart, a celebrated adventurer of Dunkirk, occupies the 
leading place in those affairs, in which he carried on a desul- 
tory but active warfare against the Dutch and English fleets, 
and generally with great success. 

Ail the nations which had taken part in so many wars, were 
now becoming exhausted by the contest, but none so much 
so as France. The great despot who had so long wielded the 
energies of that country with such wonderful splendor and 
success, found that his unbounded love of dominion was gradu- 
ally sapping all the real good of his people, in chimerical 
schemes of universal conquest. England, though with much 
resolution voting new supplies, and in every way upholding 
William in his plans for the continuance of war, was rejoiced 
when Louis accepted the mediation of Charles XI. king ot 
Sweden, and agreed to concessions which made peace feasi- 
ble.* The emperor and Charles 11. of Spain, were less satis 
lied with those concessions : but every thing was finally ar • 
ranged to meet the general views of the parties, and negotia- 
tions were opened at Ryswick. The death of the king of 
Sweden, and the minority of his son and successor, the cele- 
brated Charles XII., retarded them on points of form for some 
time. At length, on the 20th of September, 1697, the articles 
of the treaty were subscribed b}^ the Dutch, English, Spanish, 
and French amibassadors.f The treaty consisted of seventeen 
articles. The French king declared he would not disturb or 
disquiet the king of Great Britain, whose title he now for the 
first time acknowledged. Between France and Holland were 
declared a general armistice, perpetual amity, a mutual resti- 
tution of towns, a reciprocal renunciation of all pretensions 
upon each other, and a treaty of commerce which was imme- 
diately put into execution. Thus, after this long, expensive, 
and sanguinary war, things were established just on the foot- 
ing they had been by the peace of Nimeguen ; and a great, 
though unavailable lesson, read to the world on the futility 
and wickedness of those quarrels in which the personal am- 
bition of kings leads to the misery of the people. Had the 
allies been true to each other throughout, Louis would cer- 
tainly have been reduced much lower than he now was. His 

* Smollett, vol. i. pp. 316, 317. t De Neny. 



1700. WAK OF SUCCESSION. L'5l 

pride was humbled, and his encroachments stopped. But the 
sufFermgs of the various countries engaged in the war, were 
too generally reciprocal to make its result of any material 
benefit to either. The emperor held out for a while, encour- 
aged by the great victory gained by his general, prince Eu- 
gene of Savoy, over the Turks at Zenta in Hungary ; but he 
finally acceded to the terms offered by France ; the peace, 
therefore, became general, but unfortunately for Europe, of 
very short duration. 

France, as if looking forward to the speedy renewal of hos- 
tilities, still kept her armies undisbanded. Let the foresight 
of her politicians have been what it might, this negative 
proof of it was justified by events. The king of Spain, a 
weak prince, without any direct heir for his possessions, con- 
sidered himself authorized to dispose of their succession by 
will The leading powers of Europe thought otherwise, and 
took this right upon themselves,* Charles died on the 1st of 
November, 1700, and thus put the important question to the 
test. By a solemn testament he declared Philip duke of An- 
jou, second son of the dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., 
his successor to the whole of the Spanish monarcliy.f Louis 
immediately renounced his adherence to the treaties of par- 
tition, executed at the Hague and in London, in 1698 and 
1700, and to which he had been a contracting party ; and 
prepared to maintain the act by which the last of the descend- 
ants of Charles V. bequeathed the possessions of Spain and 
the Indies to the family which had so long been the inveterate 
enemy and rival of his own. 

The emperor Leopold, on his part, prepared to defend his 
claims ; and thus commenced the new war between him and 
France, which took its name from the succession which formed 
the object of dispute. Hostilities were commenced in Italy, 
v/here prince Eugene, the conqueror of the Turks, com- 
manded for Leopold, and every day made for himself a still 
more brilliant reputation. Louis sent his grandson to Spain 
to take possession of the inheritance, for which so hard a 
figlit was yet to be maintained, v/ith the striking expression 
at parting — " My child, there are no longer any Pyrenees !" 
an expression most happily unprophetic for the future inde- 
pendence of Europe, for the moral force of the barrier has 
long existed after the expiration of the family compact which 
was meant to deprive it of its force. 

Louis prepared to act vigorously. Among other measures, 
he caused part of the Dutch army that was quartered in 

* De Neny. f Du Mont, Corps Diplom. 



S52 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1701. 

Luxembourg- and Brabant to be suddenly made prisoners of 
war, because they would not own Philip V. as king of Spain. 
The states-general were dreadfully alarmed, immediately 
made the required acknowledgment, and in consequence had 
their soldiers released * They quickly reinforced their gar- 
risons, purchased supplies, solicited foreign aid, and prepared 
for the worst that might happen. They wrote to king Wil- 
liam, professing the most inviolable attachment to England : 
and he met their application by warm assurances of support, 
and an immediate reinforcement of three regiments. 

William followed up these measures by the formation of 
the celebrated treaty called the Grand Alliance, by which 
England, the States, and the emperor covenanted for the sup- 
port of the pretensions of the latter to the Spanish monarchy.f 
William was preparing, in spite of his declining health, to take 
his usual lead in the military operations now decided on, and 
almost all Europe was again looking forward to his guidance, 
when he died on the 8th of Marcli, 1701, leaving his great 
plans to receive their execution from still more able adepts in 
the art of war. 

William's character has been traced by many hands. In 
his capacity of king of England, it is not our province to 
judge him in this place. As stadtholder of Holland, he merits 
unqualified praise. Like his great ancestor William I., whom 
he more resembled than any other of his race, he saved the 
country in a time of such imminent peril that its abandon- 
ment seemed the only resource left to the inhabitants, who 
preferred self-exile to slavery. All his acts were certainly 
merged in the one overwhelming object of a great ambition 
— that noble quality, which, if coupled with the love of coun- 
try, is the very essence of true heroism. William was the 
last of that illustrious line which for a century and a half had 
filled Europe with admiration. He never had a child ; and 
being himself an only one, his title as prince of Orange passed 
into another branch of the family. He left his cousin prince 
Prison of Nassau, the stadtholder of Friesland, his sole and 
universal heir, and appointed the states-general his executors. | 

William's death filled Holland with mourning and alarm. 
The njeeting of the states-general after this sad intelligence 
was of a most affecting description; but William, like all 
master-minds, had left the mantle of his inspiration on his 
friends and followers. Heinsius the grand pensionary fol- 
lowed up the views of the lamented stadtholder with con- 
siderable energy, and was answered by the unanimous exer- 

* Smollett. t De Neny, t. i. p. 201. J Smollett. 



jn 02. MARLBOROUGH AND EUGENE. 253 

tions of the country. Strong assurances of support from 
queen Anne, William's successor, still further encouraged the 
republic, which now vigorously prepared for war. But it did 
not lose this occasion of recurring to the form of government 
of 1650. No new stadtholder was now appointed ; the supreme 
authority being vested in the general assembly of the states, 
and the active direction of affairs confided to the grand pen- 
sionary. This departure from the form of government which 
had been on various occasions proved to be essential to the 
safety, although at all times hazardous to the independence, 
of the States, was not attended with any evil consequences. 
The factions and the anarchy which had before been the con- 
sequence of the course now adopted, were prevented by the 
potent influence of national fear lest the enemy might triumph, 
and crush the hopes, the jealousies, and the enmities of all 
parties in one general ruin. Thus the common danger awoke 
a common interest, and the splendid successes of her allies 
kept Holland steady in the career of patriotic energy which 
had its rise in the dread of her redoubtable foe. 

The joy in France at William's death was proportionate to 
the grief it created m Holland ; and the arrogant confidence 
of Louis seemed to know no bounds. "I will punish these 
audacious merchants," said he, with an air of disdain, when 
he read the manifesto of Holland ; not foreseeing that those 
he affected to despise so much would, ere-long, command in 
a great measure the destinies of his crown. Queen Anne 
entered upon the war with masculine intrepidity, and main- 
tained it with heroic energy. Efforts were made' by the Eng- 
lish ministry and the states-genera] to mediate between the 
kings of Sweden and Poland. But Charles XIL, enamoured 
of glory, and bent on the one great object of his designs 
against Russia, would listen to nothing that might lead him 
from his immediate career of victory.* Many other of the 
northern princes were withheld, by various motives, from en- 
tering into the contest with France, and its whole brunt de- 
volved on the original members of the grand alliance. The 
generals who carried it on were Marlborough and prince 
Eugene. The former, at its commencement an earl, and sub- 
sequently raised to the dignity of duke, was declared gene- 
ralissimo of the Dutch and English forces. He was a man of 
most powerful genius, both as warrior and politician. A pupil 
of the great Turenne, his exploits left those of his master in 
the shade. No commander ever possessed in a greater degree 
the faculty of forming vast designs, and of carrying them 

* Voltaire. 



254 



HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



1702. 



into effect with consummate skill; no one displayed more 
coolness and courag-e in action, saw with a keener eye the 
errors of the enemy, or knew better how to profit by success. 
He never laid siege to a town that he did not take, and never 
fought a battle that he did not gain.* 

Prince Eugene joined to the highest order of personal 
bravery a profound judgment for the grand movements of war, 
and a capacity for the most minute of the minor details on 
which their successful issue so often depends. United in the 
same cause, these two great g'enerals pursued their course 
without the least misunderstanding. At the close of each of 
those successive campaigns, in which they reaped such a full 
harvest of renown, they retired together to the Hague, to ar- 
range, in the profoundest secrecy, the plans for the next 
year's operations, with one other person, who formed the great 
point of union between them, and completed a triumvirate 
without a parallel in the history of political affairs. This third 
was Heinsius, one of those groat men produced by the re- 
public whose names are tantamount to the most detailed eulo- 
gium for talent and patriotism. Every enterprise projected 
by the confederates was deliberately examined, rejected, or 
approved by these three associates, whose strict union of pur- 
pose, disowning all petty rivalry, formed the centre of coun- 
sels and the source of circumstances finally sofatal to France.f 

Louis XIV., now sixty years of age, could no longer him- 
self command his armies, or probably did not wish to risk the 
reputation he was conscious of having gained by the advice 
and services of Turenne, Conde, and Luxembourg-. Louvois, 
too, was dead ; and Colbert no longer managed his finances. 
A council of rash and ignorant ministers hung like a dead 
weight on the talent of the generals who succeeded the great 
men above mentioned. Favor and not merit too often decided 
promotion, and lavished command. Vendome, Villars, Bouf- 
flers, and Berwicli, were set aside, to make way for Villeroi, 
Tallard, and Marsin, men every way inferior. 

The war began in 1702 in Italy, and Marlborough opened 
his first campaign in Brabant also in that year. For several 
succeeding years the confederates pursued a career of bril- 
liant success, the details of which do not properly belong to 
this work. A mere chronology of celebrated battles would 
be of little interest, and the pages of English history abound 
in records of those deeds. Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, 
and Malplaquet, are names that speak for themselves, and teh 
their own tale of glory. The utter humiliation of France 



♦ Hist, de Voltaire, Charles XII. p. 112. 



t Voltaire. 



1711. WAR RENEWED. 255 

was the result of events, in which the undying- fame of Eng- 
land for inflexible perseverance and unbounded generosity 
was joined in the strictest union with that of Holland ; and 
the impetuous valor of the worthy successor to the title of 
prince of Orange was, on many occasions, particularly at 
Malplaquet, supported by the devotion and gallantry of the 
Dutch contingent in the allied armies. The naval aifairs of 
Holland offered nothing very remarkable. The States had 
always a fleet ready to support the English in their enter- 
prises ; but no eminent admiral arose to rival the renown of 
Rooke, Byng', Benbow, and others of their allies. The first 
of those admirals took Gibraltar, which has ever since re- 
mained in the possession of England. ' The great earl of 
Peterborough carried on the war with splendid success in 
Portugal and Spain, supported occasionally by the English 
fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and that of Holland under 
admirals Allemonde and Wapenaer.* 

During the progress of the war, the haughty and long-time 
imperial Louis was reduced to a state of humiliation that 
excited a compassion so profound as to prevent its own open 
expression — the most galling of all sentiments to a proud 
mind. In the year 1709 he solicited peace on terms of most 
abject submission. The states-general, under the influence 
of the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, rejected all 
his supplications, retorting unsparingly the insolent harshness 
with which he had formerly received similar proposals from 
them. France, roused to renewed exertions by the insulting- 
treatment e}tperienced by her humiliated but still haughty 
despot, made prodigious but vain efforts to repair her ruinous 
losses. In the following year Louis renewed his attempts to 
obtain some tolerable conditions; offering to renounce his 
grandson, and to comply with all the former demands of the 
confederates.! Even these overtures were rejected ; Holland 
and England appearing satisfied with nothing short of, what 
was ajfler all impracticable, the total destruction of the great 
power which Louis had so long proved to be incompatible 
with their welfare. The war still went on ; and the taking 
of Bouchain on the 30th of August, 1711, closed the almost 
unrivalled military career of Marlborough, by the success 
of one of his boldest and best conducted exploits. J Party in- 
trigue had accomplished what, in court parlance, is called the 
disgrace, but which, in the language of common sense, means 
only the dismissal, of this great man. The new ministry, 
who hated the Dutch, now entered seriously into negotiations 
with France. The queen acceded to these views, and sent 

* Smollpt. t t'iem. + T.-lfTn 



256 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1713. 

special envoys to communicate with the court of Versailles. 
The states-general found it hnpossible to continue hostilities 
if England withdrew from the coalition; conferences were 
consequently opened at Utrecht in the month of January, 
1712. England took the important station of arbiter in the 
great question there debated. The only essential conditions 
which she demanded individually, were the renunciation of 
all claims to the crown of France by Philip V., and the de- 
molition of the harbor of Dunkirk. The first of these was 
the more readily acceded to, as the great battles of Almanza 
and Villaviciosa, gained by Philip's generals the dukes of 
Berwick and Vendome, had steadily fixed him on the throne 
of Spain — a point still more firmly secured by the death of 
the emperor Joseph L, son of Leopold, and the elevation of 
his brother Charles, Philip's competitor for the crown of 
Spain, to the imperial dignity, by the title of Charles VL 

The peace was not definitively signed until the 11th of April, 
1713 ; and France obtained far better conditions than those 
which were refused her a few years previously. The Bel- 
gian provinces were given to the new emperor, and must 
henceforth be called the Austrian instead of the Spanish 
Netherlands. The gold and the blood of Holland had been 
profusely expended during this contest; it might seem for 
no positive results : but the exhaustion produced to every one 
of the other belligerents was a source of peace and prosperity 
to the republic. Its commerce was re-established ; its finan- 
cial resources recovered their level ; and altogether we must 
fix on the epoch now before us as tliat of its utmost point of 
influence and greatness. France, on the contrary, was now 
reduced from its palmy state of almost European sovereignty 
to one of the deepest misery ; and its monarch, in his old 
age, found little left of his former power but those records of 
poetry, painting, sculpture, and architecture, which tell pos- 
terity of his magnificence, and the splendor of which throw 
his faults and his misfortunes into the shade. 

The great object now to be accomplished by the United 
Provinces, was the regulation of a distinct and guarantied 
line of frontier between the republic and France. This ob- 
ject had become by degrees, ever since the peace of Munster, 
a fundamental maxim of their politics. The interposition of 
the Belgian provinces between the republic and France was 
of serious inconvenience to the former in this point of view. 
It was made the subject of a special article in " the grand 
alliance." In the year 1707 it was particularly discussed 
between England and the States, to the great discontent of 
the emperoFt who was fer from wishing its definitive settle- 



1713. PEACE OF UTRECHT. 257 

ment.* But it was now become an nidispensable item in the 
total of important measures whose accomplishment was called 
for by the peace of Utrecht. Conferences were opened on 
this sole question at Antwerp in the year 1714 ; and, after 
protracted and difficult discussions, the treaty of the Barrier 
was concluded on the 15th of November, 1715. For the 
twenty-six articles contained in this important document we 
must refer to the w*ork the most valuable on such points, and 
already so often quoted. f 

This treaty was looked on with an evil eye in the Austrian 
Netherlands. The clamor was great and general ; jealousy 
of the commercial prosperity of Holland being- the real mo- 
tive. Long- negotiations took place on the subject of the 
treaty; and in December, 1718, the republic consented to 
modify some of the articles. The pragmatic sanction, pub- 
lished at Vienna in 1713 by Charles VI., regulated the suc- 
cession to all the imperial hereditary possessions ; and, among 
the rest, the provinces of the Netherlands. But this ar- 
rangement, though guarantied by the chief powers of Europe, 
was, in the sequel, little respected, and but indifferently exe- 
cuted. | 



CHAP. XXI. 
1713—1795. 

FROM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT TO THE INCORPORATION OF BEL- 
GIUM WITH THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 

During a period of thirty years following the treaty of 
Utrecht, the republic enjoyed the unaccustomed blessing of 
profound peace. While the discontents of the Austrian 
Netherlands on the subject of the treaty of the Barrier were 
in debate, the quadruple alliance was formed between Hol- 
land, England, France, and the emperor, for reciprocal aid 
against all enemies, foreign and domestic. § It was in virtue 
of this treaty that the pretender to the English throne re- 
ceived orders to remove from France ; and the states-general 
about the same time arrested the Swedish ambassador, baron 
Gortz, wliose intrigues excited some suspicion. The death 
of Louis XIV, had once more changed the political system 
of Europe ; and the commencement of the eighteenth century 
was fertile in negotiations and alliances in which we have 

* De Neny t. i. p. 141. f See De Neny's Memoires, t. i. p. 142, &c. 

t De Neny § Smollett. 



258 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1732. 

at present but little direct interest. The riglits of the repub- 
lic were in all instances respected ; and Holland did not cease 
to be considered as a power of the first distinction and conse- 
quence. The establishment of an East India company at 
Ostend, by the emperor Charles VI., in 1722, was the princi- 
pal cause of disquiet to the United Provinces, and the most 
likely to lead to a rupture. But, by the treaty of Hanover in 
1726, the rights of Holland resulting from the treaty of Mun- 
ster were guarantied ; and in consequence the emperor abol- 
ished the company of his creation, by the treaty of Seville in 
1729, and that of Vienna in 1731. 

The peace which now reigned in Europe allowed the Uni- 
ted Provinces to direct their whole efforts towards the reform 
of those internal abuses resulting from feudality and fanati- 
cism. Confiscations were reversed, and property secured 
throughout the republic. It received into its protection the 
persecuted sectarians of France, Germany, and Hungary ; 
and the tolerant wisdom which it exercised in these measures 
gives the best assurance of its justice and prudence in one of 
a contrary nature, forming a solitary exception to them. This 
was the expulsion of the Jesuits, whose dangerous and de- 
structive doctrines had been long a warrant for this salutary 
example to the Protestant states of Europe. 

In the year 1732 the United Provinces were threatened 
with imminent peril, which accident alone prevented from 
becoming fatal to their very existence. It was perceived that 
the dikes, which had for ages preserved the coasts, were in 
many places crumbling to ruin, in spite of the enormous ex- 
penditure of money and labor devoted to their preservation. 
By chance it was discovered that the beams, piles, and other 
timber works employed in the construction of the dikes, were 
eaten through in all parts by a species of sea-worm hitherto 
I unknown. The terror of the people was, as may be supposed, 

I extreme. Every possible resource was applied which could 

j remedy the evil ; a hard frost providentially set in and de- 

i stroyed the formidable reptiles;* and the country was thus 

I saved from a danger tenfold greater than that involved in a 

I dozen wars. 

The peace of Europe was once more disturbed in 1733. 
t Poland, Germany, France, and Spain, were all embarked in 

the new war. Holland and England stood aloof; and another 
family alliance of great consequence drew still closer than 
ever the bonds of union between them. The young prince of 
Orange, who in 1728 had been elected stadtholder of Gronin- 
gen and Guelders, in addition to that of Friesland which had 

* Smollett. 

! 



1743. BATTLE or DETTIXGEIV. 259 

been enjoyed by his father, had m the year 1734 married the 
princess Anne, daughter of George IL of England ; and by 
thus adding to the consideration of the house of Nassau, had 
opened a field for the recovery of all its old distinctions. 

The death of the emperor Charles VL, in October, 1740, 
left his daughter, the archduchess Maria Theresa, heiress of 
his throne and possessions. Young, beautiful, and endowed 
with qualities of the highest order, she was surrounded with 
enemies whose envy and ambition would have despoiled her 
of her splendid rights. Frederick of Prussia, surnamed the 
Great, in honor of his abilities rather than his sense of justice, 
the electors of Bavaria and Saxony, and the kings of Spain 
and Sardinia, all pressed forward to the spoliation of an in- 
heritance which seemed a fair play for all comers. But Maria 
Theresa, first joining her husband, duke Francis of Lorraine, 
in her sovereignty, but without prejudice to it, under the title 
of co-regent, took an attitude truly heroic. When every thing 
seemed to threaten the dismemberment of her states, she 
threw herself upon the generous fidelity of her Hungarian 
subjects with a dignified resolution that has few examples. 
There was imperial grandeur even in her appeal to their 
compassion. The results were electrical ; and the whole tide 
of fortune was rapidly turned. 

England and Holland were the first to come to the aid of 
the young and interesting empress. George XL, at the head 
of his army, gained the victory of Dettingen, in support of her 
quarrel, in 1743 ; the states- general having contributed 20,000 
men and a large subsidy to her aid. Louis XV. resolved to 
throw his whole influence into the scale against these gener- 
ous efforts in the princess's favor ; and he invaded the Austrian 
Netherlands in the following year. Marshal Saxe commanded 
under him, and at first carried every thing before him. Hol- 
land, having furnished 20,000 troops and six ships of war to 
George IL on the invasion of the young pretender, was little 
in a state to oppose any formidable resistance to the enemy 
that threatened her own frontiers. The republic, wholly at- 
tached for so long a period to pursuits of peace and commerce, 
had no longer good g*enerals nor effective armies ; nor could 
it even put a fleet of any importance to sea. Yet with all 
these disadvantages it would not yield to the threats nor the 
demands of France ; resolved to risk a new war rather than 
succumb to an enemy it had once so completely humbled and 
given the law to. 

Conferences were opened at Breda, but interrupted almost 
as soon as commenced. Hostilities were renewed. The 
memorable battle of Fontenoy was offered and gloriously fought 



260 



HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



1751, 



by the allies ; accepted and spendidly won by the French. 
Never did the English and Dutch troops act more nobly in 
concert than on this remarkable occasion. The valor of the 
French was not less conspicuous ; and the success of the day 
was in a great measure decided by the Irish battalions, sent, 
by the lamentable politics of those and much later days, to 
swell the ranks and gain the battles of England's enemies. 
Marshal Saxe followed up his advantage the following year, 
taking Brussels and many other towns. Almost the whole of 
the Austrian Netherlands being now in the power of Louis 
XV., and the United Provinces again exposed to invasion and 
threatened with danger, they had once more recourse to the 
old expedient of the elevation of the house of Orange, whic]i 
in times of imminent peril seemed to present a never-failing 
palladium. Zealand was the first to give the impulsion ; the 
other provinces soon followed the example ; and William IV. 
was proclaimed stadtholder and captain-general, amidst the 
almost unanimous rejoicings of all. These dignities were soon 
after declared hereditary both in the male and female line of 
succession of the house of Orange Nassau. 

The year 1748 saw the termination of the brilliant cam- 
,paigns of Louis XV. during this bloody war of eight years' 
continuance. The treaty of Aix-]a-Chapelle, definitively 
signed on the 18th of October, put an end to hostilities ; Maria 
Theresa was established in her rights and power ; and Europe 
saw a fair balance of the nations, which gave promise of se- 
curity and peace. But the United Provinces, when scarcely 
recovering from struggles v^^hich had so checked their pros- 
perity, were employed in new and universal grief and anxiety 
by the death of their young stadtholder, which happened at 
the Hague, October 13, 1751. He had long been kept out 
of the government, though by no means deficient in the talents 
suited to his station. His son, William V., aged but three 
years and a half, succeeded him, under the guardianship of 
his mother, Anne of England, daughter of George II. a prin- 
cess represented to be of a proud and ambitious temper, who 
immediately assumed a high tone of authority in the state.* 

The war of seven years, which agitated the north of Eu- 
rope, and deluged its plains with blood, was almost the only 
ane in which the republic was able to preserve a strict neu- 
trality throughout. But this happy state of tranquillity was 
not, as on former occasions, attended by that prodigious in- 
crease of commerce, and that accumulation of wealth, which 
had so often astonished the world. Differing with England 
on the policy which led the latter to weaken and humiliate 



♦ Horace Walpole's Mem. vol, i. p. 179, 180, 
\ 



1772. SEVEN YEARS WAR. 26] 

France, jealousies sprung up between the two countries, and 
Dutch commerce became the object of the most vexatious 
and injurious eftbrts on the part of England. Remonstrance 
was vain ; resistance impossible ; and the decline of the re- 
public hurried rapidly on. The Hanseatic towns, the Ameri- 
can colonies, the northern states of Europe, and France 
itself, all entered into the rivalry with Holland, in which, 
however, England carried off the most important prizes. Sev 
eral private and petty encounters took place between the 
vessels of England and Holland, in consequence of the pre- 
tensions of the former to the right of search ; and had the 
republic possessed the ability of former periods, and the 
talents of a Tromp or a De Ruyter, a new war would no 
doubt have been the result. But it was forced to submit; and 
a degrading but irritating tranquillity was the consequence 
for several years ; the national feelings receiving a salvo for 
home-decline by some extension of colonial settlements in 
the East, in v/hich the island of Ceylon was included. 

In the midst of this inglorious state of things, and the do- 
mestic abundance which was the only compensation for the 
gradual loss of national influence, the installation of William 
V. in 1766 ; his marriage with the princess of Prussia, niece 
of Frederick the Great, in 1768 ; and the birth of two sons, the 
eldest on the 24th of August, 1772 ; successively took place. 
Magnificent fetes celebrated these events ; the satisfied citi- 
zens little imagining, amid their indolent rejoicings, the dis- 
mal futurity of revolution and distress which was silently but 
rapidly preparing for their country. 

Maria Theresa, reduced to widowhood by the death of her 
husband, whom she had elevated to the imperial dignity by 
the title of Francis I., continued for a while to rule singly 
her vast possessions ; and had profited so little by the suffer- 
ings of her own early reign, that she joined in the iniquitous 
dismemberment of Poland, which has left an indelible stain 
on her memory, and on that of Frederick of Prussia and 
Catharine of Russia. In her own dominions she was adored ; 
and her name is to this day cherished in Belgium among the 
dearest recollections of the people. 

The impulsion given to the political mind of Europe by the 
revolution in North America was soon felt in the Nether- 
lands. The wish for reform was not merely confirmed to the 
people. A memorable instance was offered by Joseph II., son 
and successor of Maria Theresa, that sovereigns were not 
only susceptible of rational notions of change, but that the 
infection of radical extravagance could penetrate even to the 
imperial crown. Disgusted by the despotism exercised by 



^62 



HISTORY Of THE >ET11EKLAISD!?. 



1784 



the clergy of Belgium, Joseph commenced his reign by mea- 
sures that at once roused a desperate spirit of hostility in the 
priesthood, and soon spread among the bigoted mass of the 
people, who were wholly subservient to their will. Miscal- 
culating his own power, and undervaluing that of the priests, 
the emperor issued decrees and edicts with a sweeping vio- 
lence that shocked every prejudice and roused every passion 
perilous to the country. Toleration to the Protestants, eman- 
cipation of the clergy from the papal yoke, reformation in the 
system of theological instruction, were among the wholesale 
measures of the emperor's enthusiasm, so imprudently at- 
tempted and so virulently opposed. 

But ere the deep-sown seeds of bigotry ripened to revolt, 
or produced the fruit of active resistance in Belgium, Holland 
had to endure the mortification of another war with England. 
The republic resolved on a futile imitation of the northern 
powers, who had adopted the difficult and anomalous system 
of an armed neutrality, for the prevention of English domina- 
tion on the seas. The right of search, so proudly established 
by this power, was not likely to be wrenched from it by mani- 
festoes or remonstrances ; and Holland was not capable of a 
more effectual warfare. In the year 1781, St. Eustache, 
Surinam, Essequibo, and Demerara, were taken by British 
valor ; and in the following year several of the Dutch colo- 
nies in the East, well fortified but ill defended, also fell into 
the hands of England, Almost the whole of those colonies, 
the remnants of prodigious power acquired by such incalcu- 
lable instances of enterprise and courage, were one by one 
assailed and taken. But this did not sufiice for the satisfac- 
tion of English objects in the prosecution of the war. It was 
also resolved to deprive Holland of the Baltic trade. A squad- 
ron of seven vessels, commanded by Sir Hyde Parker, was 
encountered on the Dogher Bank by a squadron of Dutch 
ships of the same force under admiral Zoutman. An action 
of four hours was maintained with all the ancient courage 
which made so many of the memorable sea-fights between 
Tromp, De Ruyter, Blake, and Monk, drawn battles. A 
storm separated the combatants, and saved the honor of each ; 
for both had sufi^ered alike, and victory had belonged to 
neither. The peace of 1784 terminated this short, but, to 
Holland, fatal war ; the two latter years of which had been, 
in the petty warfare of privateering, most disastrous to the 
commerce of the republic. Negapatam on the coast of Coro- 
mandel, and the free navigation of the Indian seas, were 
ceded to England, who occupied the other various colonies 
taken during the war. 



1787 SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION. 26-3 

Opinion was now rapidly opening out to that spirit of in- 
tense inquiry which arose in France, and threatened to sweep 
before it not only all that was corrupt, but every thing- that 
tended to corruption. It is in the very essence of all kinds of 
power to have that tendency, and, if not checked by salutary 
means, to reach that end. But the reformers of the last cen- 
tury, new in the desperate practice of revolutions, seeing- its 
necessity, but ignorant of its nature, neither did nor could 
place bounds to the careering whirlwind that they raised. 
The well-meaning but intemperate changes essayed by Jo- 
seph 11. in Belgium had a considerable share in the develop- 
ment of free principles, although they at first seemed only to 
excite the resistance of bigotry and strengthen the growth 
of superstition. Holland was always alive to those feelings 
of resistance to established authority which characterize re- 
publican opinions ; and the general discontent at the result 
of the war with England gave a good excuse to the pretended 
patriotism which only wanted change, while it professed re- 
form. The stadtholder saw clearly the storm which was 
gathering, and which menaced his power. Anxious for the 
present, and uncertain for the future, he listened to the sug- 
gestions of England, and resolved to secure and extend by 
foreign force the rights of which he risked the loss from do- 
mestic faction. 

In the divisions which were now loudly proclaimed among 
the states, in favor of, or opposed to the house of Orange, the 
people, despising all new theories which they did not com- 
prehend, took open part with the family so closely connected 
with every practical feeling of good which their country had 
yet known. The states of Holland soon proceeded to mea- 
sures of violence. Resolved to limit the power of the stadt- 
holder, they deprived him of the command of the garrison of 
the Hague, and of all the other troops of the province ; and, 
shortly afterwards, declared him removed from all his em- 
ployments. The violent disputes and vehement discussions 
consequent upon this measure, throughout the republic, an- 
nounced an inevitable commotion. The advance of a Prus- 
sian army towards the frontiers inflamed the passions of one 
party, and strengthened the confidence of the other. An in- 
cident which now happened brought about the crisis even 
sooner than was expected. The princess of Orange left her 
palace at Loo to repair to the Hague ; and travelling with 
great simplicity and slightly attended, she was arrested and 
detained by a military post on the frontiers of the province 
of Holland. The neighboring magistrates of the town of 
Woesden refused her permission to continue her journey, 



264 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLAJfDS. 1767. 

and forced her to return to Loo under such surveillance as 
was usual with a prisoner of state. The stadtholder and the 
English ambassador loudly complained of this outrage. The 
complaint was answered by the immediate advance of the 
duke of Brunswick, with 20,000 Prussian soldiers. Some 
demonstrations of resistance were made by the astonished 
party whose outrageous conduct had provoked the measure ; 
but in three weeks' time the whole of the republic was in per- 
fect obedience to the authority of the stadtholder, who re- 
sumed all his functions of chief magistrate, with the additional 
influence which was sure to result from a vain and unjusti- 
fiable attempt to reduce his former power.* 

By this time, the discontent and agitation in Belgium had 
attained a most formidable height. The attempted reforma- 
tion in religion and judicial abuses persisted in by the empe- 
ror, were represented, by a party whose existence was com- 
promised by reform, as nothing less than sacrilege and tyranny, 
and blindly rejected by a people still totally unfitted for ra- 
tional enlightenment in points of faith, or practices of civili- 
zation. Remonstrances and strong complaints were soon 
succeeded by tumultuous assemblages and open insurrection. 
A lawyer of Brussels, named Vander Noot, put himself at 
the head of the malcontents. The states-general of Brabant 
declared the new measures of the emperor to be in opposition 
to the constitution and privileges of the country. The other 
Belgian provinces soon followed this example. The prince 
Albert of Saxe-Teschen, and the archduchess Maria Theresa, 
his wife, were at this period joint governors-general of the 
Austrian Netherlands. At the burst of rebellion, they at- 
tempted to temporize ; but this only strengthened the revolu- 
tionary party, while the emperor wholly disapproved their 
measures, and recalled them to Vienna, 

Count Murray was now named governor-general ; and it 
was evident that the future fate of the provinces was to de- 
pend on the issue of civil war. Count Trautmansdorfl', the 
imperial minister at Brussels, and general D' Alton, who com- 
manded the Austrian troops, took a high tone, and evinced a 
peremptory resolution. The soldiery and the citizens soon 
came into contact on many points ; and blood was spilt at 
Brussels, Mechlin, and Antwerp. 

The provincial states were convoked, for the purpose of 
voting the usual subsidies. Brabant, after some opposition, 

*We reirret to be beyond the reach of Mr. Ellis's interesting but unpub- 
lished work, detailing the particulars of this revolution. The former perusal 
of a copy of it only leaves a recollection of its admirable style and the lead- 
ing facts, but not of the detaiJs with sufficient accuracy to justify more than 
a general reference to the work itself. 



1T88. IJVSURRECTIOK AND CONFEDERATION. 265 

consented ; but the states of Hainault unanimously refused 
the vote. The emperor saw, or supposed, that the necessity 
for decisive measures was now inevitable. The refractory 
states were dissolved, and arrests and imprisonments were 
multiplied in all quarters. Vander Noot, who had escaped to 
England, soon returned to the Netherlands, and established a 
committee at Breda, which conferred on him the unposing' 
title of agent plenipotentiary of the people of Brabant. He 
hoped, under this authority, to interest the English, Prussian, 
and Dutch governments in favor of his views ; but his pro- 
posals were coldly received : Protestant states had little sym- 
pathy for a people whose resistance was excited, not by tyran- 
nical efforts against freedom, but by broad measures of civil 
and religious reformation ; the only fault of which was their 
attempted application to minds wholly incompetent to com 
prebend their value. 

Left to themselves, the Belgians soon gave a display of 
that energetic valor which is natural to them, and which 
would be entitled to still greater admiration had it been 
evinced in a worthier cause. During the fermentation which 
led to a general rising- in the provinces, on the impulse of 
fanatic zeal, the truly enlightened portion of the people con- 
ceived the project of raising, on tlie ruins of monkish super- 
stition and aristocratical power, an edifice of constitutional 
freedom. Vonck, also an advocate of Brussels, took the lead 
in this splendid design ; and he and his friends proved them- 
selves to have reached the level of that true enlightenment 
which distinguished the close of the eighteenth century. But 
the Vonckists, as they were called, formed but a small mi- 
nority compared with the besotted mass ; and, overwhelmed 
by fanaticism on the one hand, and despotism on the other, 
they were unable to act effectually for the public good. Van- 
der Mersch, a soldier of fortune, and a man of considerable 
talents, who had raised himself from the ranks to the com- 
mand of a regiment, and had been formed in the school of the 
seven years' war, was appointed to the command of the pa- 
tri(;t forces. Joseph 11. was declared to have forfeited his 
sovereignty in Brabant; and hostilities soon commenced, by 
a regular advance of the insurgent army upon that province. 
Vander Mersch displayed consummate ability in this crisis, 
where so much depended upon the prudence of the military 
chief He made no rash attempt, to which commanders are 
sometimes induced by reliance upon the enthusiasm of a 
newly revolted people. He, however, took the earliest safe 
opportunity of coming to blows with the enemy ; and, having 
cleverly induced the Austrians to follow him into the very 



266 IIISTOIIY OF THE JvETHERLANDS. 1791 

streets of the town of Turnhout, he there entered on a hloodv 
contest, and finally defeated the unperialists with considera- 
ble loss. He next manoeuvred with great ability, and suc- 
ceeded in making his way into the province of Flanders, took 
Ghent by assault, and soon reduced Bruges, Ypres, and Os- 
tend. At the news of these successes, the governors-general 
quitted Brussels in all haste. The states of Flanders assem- 
bled, in junction with those of Brabant. Both provinces were 
freed from the presence of the Austrian troops. Vander Noot 
and the committee of Breda made an entrance into Brussels 
with all the pomp of royalty : and in the early part of the 
following year (1790) a treaty of union was signed by the 
seven revolted provinces, now formed into a confederation 
under the name of the United Belgian States.* 

xA.!! the hopes arising' from these brilliant events, were soon, 
however, to be blighted by the scorching heats of faction. 
Joseph II., whose temperament appears to have been too sen- 
sitive to support the shock of disappointment in plans which 
sprung from the purest motives, saw, in addition to this suc- 
cessful insurrection against his power, his beloved sister, the 
queen of France, menaced with the horrors of an inevitable 
revolution. His over-sanguine expectations of successfully 
rivalling the glory of Frederick and Catharine, and the ill 
success of his war against the Turks, all tended to break down 
his enthusiastic spirit, which only wanted the elastic resist- 
ance of fortitude to have made him a great character. He 
for some time sunk into a profound melancholy ; and expired 
on the 20th of January, 1791, accusmg his Belgian subjects 
of having caused his premature death. 

Leopold, the successor of his bi-other, displayed much sa- 
gacity and moderation in the measures which he adopted for 
the recovery of the revolted provinces : but their internal 
disunion was the best ally of the new emperor. The violent 
party which now ruled at Brussels, had ungratefully forgot- 
ten the eminent services of Vander Mersch, and accused him 
of treachery, merely from his attachment to the noble views 
and principles of the widely-increasing party of the Vonck- 
ists. Induced by the hope of reconciling the opposing parties, 
he left his army in Namur, and imprudently ventured into 
the power of general Schoenfeld, who commanded the troops 
of the states. Vander Mersch was instantly arrested and 
thrown into prison, where he lingered for months, until set 
free by the overthrow of the faction he had raised to power :f 
but he did not recover his liberty to witness the realization 
of his hopes for that of his country. The states-general, in 

* De Smet. + Feller's Journal 



1792. WAR BETWEEN PRANCE AND AUSTRIA. 267 

their triumph over all that was truly patriotic, occupied them- 
selves solely in contemptible labors to establish the monkish 
absurdities which Joseph had suppressed. The overtures of 
the new emperor were rejected with scorn ; and, as might 
be expected from this combination of bigotry and rashness, 
the imperial troops under general Bender marched quietly to 
the conquest of the whole country ; town after town opening 
their gates, while Vander Noot and his partisans betook them- 
selves to rapid and disgraceful flight. On the 10th of De- 
cember, 1791, the ministers of the emperor concluded a con- 
vention with those of England, Russia, and Holland (which 
powers guarantied its execution,) by which Leopold granted 
an amnesty for all past offences, and confirmed to all his re- 
covered provinces tlieir ancient constitution and privileges : 
and, thus returning under the domination of Austria, Bel- 
gium saw its best chance for successfully following the noble 
example of the United Provinces paralyzed by the short- 
sighted bigotry which deprived the national courage of all 
moral force. 

Leopold enjoyed but a short time the fruits of his well- 
measured indulgence : he died almost suddenly, March 1, 
1792 ; and was succeeded by his son Francis IL, whose fate 
it was to see those provinces of Belgium, which had cost his 
ancestors so many struggles to maintain, wrested for ever 
from the im-perial power. Belgium presented at this period 
an aspect of paramount interest to the world ; less owing to 
its intrinsic importance, than to its becoming at once the 
point of contest between the contending powers, and the 
theatre of the terrible struggle between republican France 
and the monarchs she braved and battled with. The whole 
combinations of European policy were staked on the question 
of the French possession of this country.* 

This w^ar between France and Austria began its earliest 
operations on the very first days after the accession of Francis 
II. The victory of Jemappes, gained by.Dumouriez, was the 
first great event of the campaign. The Austrians were on 
all sides driven out. Dumouriez made his triumphal entry 
into Brussels on the 13th of November : and immediately 
after the occupation of this town, the whole of Flanders, Bra- 
bant, and Hainault, w^ith the other Belgian provinces, were 
subjected to France. Soon afterwards several pretended 
deputies from the Belgian people hastened to Paris, and im- 
plored the convention to grant them a share of that liberty 
and equality which was to confer such inestimable blessings 

* Abb6 de Pradt, de la Belgique, p. 6. 



268 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1794. 

on France. Various decrees were issued in consequence ; 
and after the mockery of a public choice, hurried on in seve- 
ral of the towns by hired jacobins and well-paid patriots, the 
incorporation of the Austrian Netherlands with the French 
republic was formally pronounced.* 

The next campaign destroyed this whole fabric of revolu- 
tion. Dumouriez, beaten at Nerv/inde by the prince of Saxe 
Cobourg, abandoned not only his last year's conquest, but fled 
from his own army to pass the remainder of his life on a 
foreign soil, and leave his reputation a doubtful legacy to his- 
tory. Belgium, once again in the possession of Austria, was 
placed under the government of the archduke Charles, the 
emperor's brother, who was destined to a very brief continu- 
ance in this precarious authority. 

During this and the succeeding year the war was continued 
Vv^ith unbroken perseverance and a constant fluctuation in its 
results. In the various battles which were fought, and the 
sieges which took place, the English army was, as usual, in 
the foremost ranks, under the duke of York, second son of 
George III. The prince of Orange, at the head of the Dutch 
troops, proved his inheritance of the valor which seems inse- 
parable from the name of Nassau. The archduke Charles 
laid the foundation of his subsequent high reputation. The 
emperor Francis himself fought valiantly at the head of his 
troops. But all the coalesced courage of these princes and 
their armies could not effectually stop the progress of the re- 
publican arms. The battle of Fleurus rendered the French 
completely masters of Belgium ; and the representatives of 
the city of Brussels once more repaired to the national con- 
vention of France, to solicit the reincorporation of the two 
countries. This was not, however, finally pronounced till the 
1st of October, 1795, by which time the violence of an arbi- 
trary government had given the people a sample of what they 
were to expectf The Austrian Netherlands and the province 
of Liege were divided into nine departments, forming an in- 
tegral part of the French republic ; and this new state of 
things was consolidated by tbe preliminaries of peace, signed 
at Leoben in Styria, between the French general Bonaparte 
and the archduke Charles, and confirmed by the treaty of 
Campo-Formio on the 17th of October, 1797. 

* De Smet. t De Smet 



1794 THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. 269 

CHAP. XXII. 
1794—1813. 

FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE 
RETURN OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 

While the fate of Belgium was decided on the plains of 
Fleurus, Pichegru prepared to carry the triumphant arms of 
France into the heart of Holland. He crossed the Meuse at 
the head of 100,000 men, and soon gained possession of most 
of the chief places of Flanders. An unusually severe winter 
was setting in ; but a circumstance which in common cases 
retards the operations of war was, in the present instance, the 
means of hurrying on the conquest on which the French 
general was bent. The arms of the sea, which had hitherto 
been the best defences of Holland, now became solid masses 
of ice ; battle-fields, on which the soldiers manoeuvred and 
the artillery thundered, as if the laws of the elements were 
repealed to hasten the fall of the once proud and long flour- 
ishing republic. Nothing could arrest the ambitious ardor of 
the invaders. The duke of York and his brave army resisted 
to the utmost; but, borne down by numbers, he was driven 
from position to position. Batteries, cannons, and magazines, 
were successively taken ; and Pichegru was soon at the term 
of his brilliant exploits. 

But Holland speedily ceased to be a scene of v/arfare. The 
discontented portion of the citizens, now the majority, re- 
joiced to retaliate the revolution of 1787 by another, received 
the French as liberators. Reduced to extremity, yet still 
capable by the aid of his allies of making a long and des- 
perate resistance, the stadtholder took the nobler resolution 
of saving his fellow-citizens from the horrors of prolonged 
warfare. He repaired to the Hague ; presented himself in 
the assembly of the states-general ; and solemnly deposited in 
their hands the exercise of the supreme power, which he 
found he could no longer wield but to entail misery and ruin 
on his conquered country. After this splendid instance of true 
patriotism and rare virtue, he quitted Holland and took ref- 
uge in England. The states-general dissolved a national as- 
sembly installed at the Hague ; and, the stadtholderate abol- 
ished, the United Provinces now changed their form of gov- 
ernment, their long-cherished institutions, and their very 
name, and were christened the Batavian Republic. 

Assurances of the most flattering nature were profusely 
showered on the new state, by the sister republic which had 



270 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1797. 

effected this new revolution. But the first measure of re- 
generation was the necessity of paying for the recovered in- 
dependence, which was effected for the sum of 100,000,000 
fiorins.* The new constitution was almost entirely modelled 
on that of France, and the promised independence soon be- 
came a state of deplorable suffering and virtual slavery. In- 
calculable evils were the portion of Holland in the part which 
she was forced to take in the war between France and Eng- 
land. Her marine was nearly annihilated, and some of her 
most valuable possessions in the Indies ravished from her by 
the British arms. She was at the same time obliged to cede 
to her ally the whole of Dutch Flanders, Maestricht, Venloo, 
and their dependencies ; and to render free and common to 
both nations the navigation of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the 
Scheldt. 

The internal situation of the unfortunate republic was de- 
plorable. Under the weight of an enormous and daily in- 
creasing debt, all the resources of trade and industry were 
paralyzed. Universal misery took place of opulence, and 
not even the consolation of a free constitution remained to 
the people. They vainly sought that blessing from each new 
government of the country whose destinies they followed, 
but whose advantages they did not share. They saw them- 
selves successively governed by the states-general, a national 
assembly, and the directory. But these ephemeral authorities 
had not sufficient weight to give the nation domestic happi- 
ness, nor consideration among the other powers. 

On the 11th of October, 1797, the English admiral Sir 
Adam Duncan, with a superior force, encountered the Dutch 
fleet under De Winter off Camperdown ; and in spite of the 
bravery of the latter he was taken prisoner, with nine ships 
of the line and a frigate. An expedition on an expensive 
scale was soon after fitted out in England, to co-operate with 
a Russian force for the establishment of the house of Orange. 
The Helder was the destination of this armament, which was 
commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. The duke of York 
soon arrived in the Texel with a considerable reinforcement. 
A series of severe and well-contested actions near Bergen 
ended in the defeat of the allies, and the abandonment of the 
enterprise ; the only success of which was the capture of the 
remains of the Dutch fleet, which was safely conveyed to 
England. 

From this period the weight of French oppression became 
every day more intolerable in Holland. Ministers, generals, 
and every other species of functionary, with swarms of minor 

* Chad. 



1806. LOUIS BONAPARTE. 271 

tyrants, while treating- the country as a conquered province, 
deprived it of all share in the brilliant though chequered 
g-lories gained by that to which it was subservient. The 
Dutch were robbed of national independence and personal 
freedom. While the words 'liberty' and 'equality' v/ere 
everywhere emblazoned, the French ambassador assumed an 
almost oriental despotism. The language and forms of a free 
government were used only to sanction a foreign tyranny ; 
and the Batavian republic, reduced to the most hopeless and 
degraded state, was in fact but a forced appendage chained to 
the triumphal car of France. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, creating by the force of his prodi- 
gious talents the circumstances of which inferior minds are 
but the creatures, now rapidly rose to the topmost height of 
power. He not only towered above the mass of prejudices 
which long custom had legalized, but spurned the multitude 
by whom these prejudices had been overthrown. Yet he 
was not of the first order of great minds ; for he wanted that 
grand principle of self-control, which is the supreme attribute 
of greatness. Potent, and almost irresistible in every con- 
flict with others, and only to be vanquished by his own acts, 
he possessed many of the higher qualities of genius. He 
was rapid, resolute, and daring, filled with contempt for the 
littleness of mankind, yet moulding every atom which com- 
posed that littleness to purposes at utter variance with its 
nature. In defiance of the first essence of republican theory, 
he built himself , an imperial throne on the crushed privileges 
of a prostrate people ; and he lavished titles and dignities on 
men raised from its very dregs, with a profusion which made 
nobility a by-word of scorn. Kingdoms were created for his 
brothers and his friends ; and the Batavian republic was made 
a monarchy, to give Louis a dignity, or at least a title, like 
the rest. 

The character of Louis Bonaparte was gentle and amiable, 
his manners easy and affable. He entered on his new rank 
with the best intentions towards the country which he was 
sent to reign over ; and though he felt acutely when the peo- 
ple refused him marks of respect and applause, which was 
frequently the case, his temper was not soured, and he con- 
ceived no resentment. He endeavored to merit popularity ; 
and though his power was scanty, his efforts were not wholly 
unsuccessful. He labored to revive the ruined trade, which 
he knew to be the staple of Dutch prosperity : but the mea- 
sures springing from this praiseworthy motive were totally 
opposed to the policy of Napoleon ; and in proportion as Louis 
made friends and partisans amonir his subjects, he excited 
18 



272 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1810. 

bitter enmity in his imperial brother. Louis was so ax^erse 
from the continental system, or exclusion of British manufac- 
tures, that during his short reign every facility was given to 
his subjects to elude it, even in defiance of the orders con- 
veyed to him from Paris through the medium of the Frencli 
ambassador at the Hague.* He imposed no restraints on 
public opinion, nor would he establish the odious system of 
espionage cherished by the French police : but he was fickle 
in his purposes, and prodigal in his expenses. Theprofuse- 
ness of his expenditure was very offensive to the Dutch no- 
tions of respectability in matters of private finance, and in- 
jurious to the existing state of the public means. The tyr- 
anny of Napoleon became soon quite insupportable to him ; 
so much so, that it is believed that had the ill-fated English 
expedition to Walcheren in 1809 succeeded, and the army 
advanced into the country, lie would have declared war 
against France.f After an ineffectual struggle of more than 
three years, he chose rather to abdicate his throne than re- 
tain it under the degrading conditions of proconsulate sub- 
serviency. This measure excited considerable regret, and 
much esteem for the man who preferred the retirement of 
private life to the meanness of regal slavery. But Louis 
left a galling memento of misplaced magnificence, in an in- 
crease of 90 millions of florins (about 9 millions sterling) to 
the already oppressive amount of the national debt of the 
country. 

The annexation of Holland to the French empire was iui- 
mediately pronounced by Napoleon. Two thirds of the na- 
tional debt were abolished, the conscription law was intro- 
duced, and the Berlhi and Milan decrees against the intro- 
duction of British manufactures were rigidly enforced. The 
nature of the evils inflicted oi the Dutch people by this an- 
nexation and its consequences lemands a somewhat minute 
examination. Previous to it all that part of the territory of 
the former United Provinces had been ceded to France. The 
kingdom of Holland consisted of the departments of the 
Zuyder Zee, the mouths of the Maese, the Upper Yssel, the 
mouths of the Yssel, Friesland, and the Western and Eastern 
Ems ; and the population of the whole did not exceed 1,800,000 
souls. When Louis abdicated his throne, he left a military 
and naval force of 18,000 men, who were immediately taken 
into the service of France ; and in three years and a half 
after that event this number was increased to 50,000, by the 
operation of the French naval and military code : thus about 
a thirty-sixth part of the whole population was employed in 

* Cliarl. p. 1-3. + Wnn. p. 14. 



1812. CONSCRIPTION. 273 

arms. The forces included in the maritime conscription 
were wholly employed in the navy. The national guards 
were on constant duty in the garrisons or naval establish- 
ments. The cohorts were by law only liable to serve in the 
interior of the French empire ; — that is to say, from Ham- 
burgh to Rome : but after the Russian campaign, this limita- 
tion was disregarded, and they formed a part of Napoleon's 
army at the battle of Bautzen. 

The conscription laws now began to be executed with the 
greatest rigor; and though the strictest justice and impar- 
tiality were observed in the ballot and other details of this 
most oppressive measure, yet it has been calculated that, on 
an average, nearly one-half of the male population of the age 
of twenty years was annually taken oif. The conscripts were 
told that their service was not to extend beyond the term of 
five years ; but as few instances occurred of a French soldier 
being discharged without his being declared unfit for service, 
it was always considered in Holland that the service of a con- 
script was tantamount to an obligation during life. Besides, 
the regulations respecting the conscription were annually 
changed, by which means the code became each year more 
intricate and confused ; and as the explanation of any doubt 
rested with the functionaries, to whom the execution of the 
law was confided, there w^as little chance of their construc- 
tions mitigating its severity. 

But the conscription, however galling, was general in its 
operation. Not so the formation of the emperor's guard of 
honor. The members of this patrician troop were chosen 
from the most noble and opulent families, particularly those 
who were deemed inimical to the French connexion. The 
selection depended altogether on the prefect, who w^as sure 
to name those most obnoxious to his political or personal dis- 
like, without regard to their rank or occupation, or even the 
state of their health. No exemption was admitted — not even 
to those who from mental or bodily infirmity, or other cause, 
had been declared unfit for general military duty. The vic- 
tims were forced to the mockery of volunteering their ser- 
vices ; obliged to provide themselves with horses, arms, and 
accoutrements ; and when arrived at the depot appointed for 
their assembling, considered probably but as hostages for the 
fidelity of their relatives. 

The various taxes were laid on and levied in the most op- 
pressive manner ; those on land usually amounting to 25, and 
those on houses to 30 per cent, of the clear annual rent. 
Other direct taxes were levied on persons and movable prop- 



274 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. 

erty, and all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerable 
severity. The whole sum annually obtained from Holland by 
these means amounted to about 30 millions of florins (or 3 
million pounds sterling,) being at the rate of about IL 13s. M. 
from every soul inhabiting the country. 

The operation of what was called the continental system 
created an excess of misery in Holland, only to be understood 
by those who witnessed its lamentable results. In other coun- 
tries, Belgium for instance, where great manufactories exist- 
ed, the loss of maritime communication was compensated by 
the exclusion of English goods. In states possessed of large 
and fertile territories, the population which could no longer 
be employed in commerce might be occupied in agricultural 
pursuits. But in Holland, whose manufactures were incon- 
siderable, and whose territory is insufficient to support its 
inhabitants, the destruction of trade threw innumerable indi- 
viduals wholly out of employment, and produced a graduated 
scale of poverty in all ranks. A considerable part of the popu- 
lation had been employed m various branches of the traffic 
carried on by means of the many canals which conveyed 
merchandise from the seaports into the interior, and to the 
different continental markets. When the communication with 
England was cut off, principals and subordinates were in- 
volved in a common ruin. 

In France, the effect of the continental system was some- 
what alleviated by the license trade, the exportation of vari- 
ous productions forced on the rest of continental Europe, and 
the encouragement given to home manufactures. But all 
this was reversed in Holland : the few licenses granted to 
the Dutch were clogged with duties so exorbitant as to make 
them useless; the duties on one ship which entered the 
Maese, loaded with sugar and coffee, amounting to about 
50,000?. sterling. At the same time every means were used 
to crush the remnant of Dutch commerce and sacrifice the 
country to France. The Dutch troops were clothed and 
armed from French manufactories ; the frontiers were opened 
to the introduction of French commodities duty free; and 
the Dutch manufacturer undersold in his own market. 

The population of Amsterdam was reduced from 220,000 
souls to 190,000, of which a fourth part derived their whole 
subsistence from charitable institutions, whilst another fourth 
part received partial succor from the same sources. At Haer- 
lem, where the population had been chiefly employed in 
bleaching and preparing linen made in Brabant, whole streets 
were levelled with the ground, and more than 500 houses 



1813. OPPRESSION OF NAPOLEOIV. 275 

destroyed. At the Hague, at Delft, and in other towns, many- 
inhabitants had been induced to pull down their houses, from 
inability to keep them in repair or pay the taxes. The pre- 
servation of the dikes, requiring- an annual expense of 
600,000/. sterling, was everywhere neglected. The sea in- 
undated the country, and threatened to resume its ancient 
dominion. No object of ambition, no source of professional 
wealth or distinction, remained to which a Hollander could 
aspire. None could voluntarily enter the army or navy, to 
fight for the worst enemy of Holland. The clergy were not 
provided with a decent competency. The ancient laws of 
the country, so dear to its pride and its prejudices, were re- 
placed by the Code Napoleon ; so that old practitioners had 
to recommence their studies, and young men were disgusted 
with the drudgery of learning a system which was universally 
pronounced unfit for a commercial country. 

Independent of this mass of positive ill, it must be borne in 
mind that in Holland trade was not merely a means of gain- 
ing wealth, but a passion long and deeply grafted on the na- 
tional mind: so that the Dutch felt every aggravation of 
calamity, considering themselves degraded and sacrificed by 
a power which had robbed them of all which attaches a peo- 
ple to their native land; and, for an accumulated list of evils, 
only offered them the empty glory of appertaining to the 
country which gave the law to all the nations of Europe, with 
the sole exception of England. 

Those who have considered the events noted in this history 
for the last 200 years, and followed the fluctuations of public 
opinion depending on prosperity or misfortune, will have an- 
ticipated that, in the present calamitous state of the country, 
all eyes were turned towards the family whose memory was 
revived by every pang of slavery, and associated with every 
throb for freedom. The presence of the prince of Orange, 
William IV., who had, on the death of his father, succeeded 
to the title, though he had lost the revenues of his ancient 
house, and the re-establishment of the connexion with Eng- 
land, were now the general desire. Some of the principal 
partisans of the house of Nassau w^ere for some time in cor- 
respondence v/ith his most serene highness. The leaders of 
the various parties into which the country wus divided be- 
came by degrees more closely united. Approaches towards 
a better understanding were reciprocally made; and they 
ended in a general anxiety for the expulsion of the French, 
with the establishment of a free constitution, and a cordial 
desire that the prince of Orange should be at its head. It 



276 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1813 

may be safely affirmed, that at the close of the year 1813, 
these were the unanimous wishes of the Dutch nation.* 

Napoleon, lost in the labyrinths of his exorbitant ambition, 
afforded at length a chance of redress to the nations he had 
enslaved. Elevated so suddenly and so high, he seemed sus- 
pended between two influences, and unfit for either. He 
might, in a moral view, be said to have breathed badly, in a 
station which was beyond the atmosphere of his natural 
world, without being out of its attraction ; and having reach- 
ed the pinnacle, he soon lost his balance and fell. Driven 
from Russia by the junction of human with elemental force, 
in 1812, he made some grand efforts in the following year to 
recover from his irremediable reverses. The battles of Baut- 
zen and Lutzen were the expiring efforts of his greatness. 
That of Leipsic put a fatal negative upon the hopes that 
sprung from the two former; and the obstinate ambition, 
which at this epoch made him refuse the most liberal offers 
of the allies, was justly punished by humiliation and defeat. 
Almost all the powers of Europe now leagued against him ; 
and France itself being worn out by his wasteful expenditure 
of men and money, he had no longer a chance in resistance. 
The empire was attacked at all points. The French troops 
in Holland were drawn off to reinforce the armies in distant 
directions; and the whole military force in that country 
scarcely exceeded 10,000 men. The advance of the combined 
armies towards the frontiers became generally known : par- 
ties of Cossacks had entered the north of Holland in Novem- 
ber, and were scouring the country beyond the Yssel. The 
moment for action on the part of the Dutch confederate pa- 
triots had now arrived ; and it was not lost or neglected. 

A people inured to revolutions for upwards of two centu- 
ries, filled with proud recollections, and urged on by well- 
digested hopes, were the most likely to understand the best 
period and the surest means for success. An attempt that 
might have appeared to other nations rash, was proved to be 
wise, both by the reasonings of its authors and its own re- 
sults. The intolerable tyranny of France had made the popu- 
lation not only ripe, but eager for revolt. This disposition 
was acted on by a few enterprising men, at once partisans of 
the house of Orange, and patriots in the truest sense of the 
word. It would be unjust to omit the mention of some of their 
names, in even this sketch of the events which sprang from 
their courage and sagacity. Count Styrum, Messieurs Repe- 

* Chad. p. 39. — [We have in all this portion of our history taken this work 
as our chief authority ; having reason to knovs^ that it is considered the 
most authentic record of feelings as well as events.] 



l8Jr^. PRINOE OF OKANGE PROCLAIMED. 277 

laer d'Jong-e, Van Hogendorp, Vander Dnyn van Maasdam, 
and ChangTiion, were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which 
planned and executed the bold measures of enfranchisement, 
and drew up the outlines of the constitution which was after- 
wards enlarged and ratified. Their first movements at the 
Hague were totally unsupported by foreign aid. Their early 
checks from the exasperated French and their over-cautious 
countrymen, would have deterred most men embarked in 
so perilous a venture ; but they never sv/erved nor shrank 
back. At the head of a force, which courtesy and policy 
railed an army, of 300 national guards badly armed, 50 citizens 
carrying fowling-pieces, 50 soldiers of the old Dutch guard, 
400 auxiliary citizens armed with pikes, and a cavalry force 
of 20 young men, the confederates boldly proclaimed the 
prince of Ora,nge, on the 17th of November, 1813, in thpir 
open village of the Hague, and in the teeth of a French force 
of full 10,000 men, occupying every fortress in the country. 

While a fevv'' gentlemen thus boldly came forward, at their 
own risk, with no funds but their private fortunes, and. only 
aided by an unarmed populace, to declare war against the 
French emperor, they did not even know the residence of the 
exiled prince in whose cause they were now so completely 
compromised. The other towns of Holland v/ere in a state 
of the greatest incertitude : Rotterdam had not moved ; and 
the intentions of admiral Kickert, who commanded . there, 
were (mistakenly) supposed to be decidedly hostile to the na- 
tional cause. Amsterdam had, on the preceding day, been 
the scene of a popular commotion, Vv'hich however, bore no 
decided character ; the rioters having been fired on by the. 
national guard, no leader coming forward, and the proclama- 
tion of the magistrates cautiously abstaining from any allu- 
sion to the prince of Orange. A brave officer, captain Falck, 
had made use of many strong but inefficient arguments to 
prevail on the timid corporation to declare for the prince; 
the presence of a French garrison of sixty m.en seeming suf- 
ficient to preserve their patriotism from any violent excess. 

The subsequent events at the Hague, furnish an inspiring 
lesson for all people who would learn, that to be free they 
must be resolute and daring. The only hope of the confed- 
erates was from the British government, and the combined 
armies then acting in the north of Europe. But many days 
were to be lingered through before troops could be embarked, 
and make their way from England in the teeth of the easterly 
winds then prevailmg ; while a few Cossacks, hovering on 
the confines of Holland, gave the only evidence of the prox- 
imity of the allied forces. 



278 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. Ibl3. 

In this crisis, it was most fortunate that the French prefect 
at the Hague, M. de Stassart, had stolen away on the earhest 
alarm ; and the French garrison, of 400 chasseure, aided by 
100 well-armed custom-house officers, under the command of 
general Bouvier des Eclats, caught the contagious fears of 
the civil functionary. This force had retired to the old palace, 
— a building in the centre of the town, the depot of all the 
rms and ammunition then at the Hague, and, from its posi- 
tion, capable of some defence. But the general and his gar- 
rison soon felt a complete panic from the bold attitude of 
count Styrum, who made the most of his little means, and 
kept up, during the night, a prodigious clatter by his twenty 
horsemen ; sentuiels challenging, amidst incessant singing 
and shouting, cries of " Oranje hoven!''' " Vivat Oranje !'''' 
and clamorous patrols of the excited citizens. At an early 
hour on the 18th, the French general demanded terms, and 
obtained permission to retire on Gorcum, his garrison being 
escorted as far as the village of Ryswick, by the twenty cav- 
aliers who composed the whole mounted force of the patriots. 

Unceasing efforts were now made to remedy the want of 
arms and men. A quantity of pikes were rudely made and 
distributed to the volunteers, who crowded in ; and numerous 
fishing-boats were dispatched in different directions to inform 
the British cruisers of the passing events. An individual 
named Pronck; an inhabitant of Scheevening, a village of the 
coast, rendered great services in this way, from his influence 
among the sailors and fishermen in the neighborhood. 

The confederates spared no exertion to increase the confi- 
dence of the people, under many contradictory and disheart- 
ening contingencies. An officer who had been dispatched 
for advice and information to baron Bentinck, at Zwolle, who 
was in communication with the allies, returned with the dis- 
couraging news that general Bulow had orders not to pass 
the Yssel, the allies having decided not to advance into Hol- 
land beyond the line of that river. A meeting of the ancient 
regents of the Hague was convoked by the proclamation of 
the confederates, and took place at the house of Mr. Van Ho- 
gendorp, the ancient residence of the De Witts. The wary 
magistrates absolutely refused all co-operation ui the daring 
measures of the confederates, who had now the whole re- 
sponsibility on their heads, with little to cheer them on in 
their perilous career, but their own resolute hearts, and the 
recollection of those days when their ancestors, with odds as 
fearfully against them, rose up and shivered to atoms the 
yoke of their oppressors. 

Some days of intense anxiety now elapsed ; and various 



1918. ARMIES OF UTRECHT AND GORCUM. 279 

incidents occurred to keep up the general excitement. Re- 
inforcements came gradually in ; no hostile measure was re- 
sorted to by the French troops ; yet the want of success, as 
rapid as was proportioned to the first movements of the rev^o- 
lution, threw a gloom over all. Amsterdam and Rotterdam 
still held back ; but the nomination of Messrs. Van Hogen- 
dorp and Vander Duyn Van Maasdam to be heads of the gov 
ernment, until the arrival of the prince of Orange, and a 
formal abjuration of the emperor Napoleon, inspired new 
vigor into the public mind. Two nominal armies were formed, 
and two generals appointed to the command ; and it is im- 
possible to resist a smile of mingled amusement and admira- 
tion, on reading the exact statement of the forces, so pomp- 
ously and so effectively announced as forming the armies of 
Utrecht and Gorcum. 

The first of these, commanded by major-general D'Jonge, 
consisted of 

300 Infantry, 
32 Volunteer cavalry, with 
2 Eight pounders. 

The latter, under the orders of major-general Sweertz Van 
Landas, was composed of 

250 of the Hague Orange guard, 
30 Prussian deserters from the French garrison, 
300 Volunteers, 
40 Cavalry, with 
2 Eight pounders. 

The " army of Gorcum" marched on the 22d on Rotter- 
dam : its arrival Vv^as joyfully hailed by the people, who con- 
tributed 300 volunteers to swell its ranks. The " army of 
Utrecht" advanced on Leyden, and raised the spirits of the 
people by the display of even so small a force. But still the 
contrary winds kept back all appearance of succor from Eng- 
land ; ihe enemy was known to meditate a general attack on 
the patriot lines from Amsterdam to Dordrecht. The bad 
state of the roads still retarded the approach of the far-distant 
armies of the allies ; alarms, true and false, were spread on 
all hands, — when the appearance of 300 Cossacks, detached 
from the Russian armies beyond the Yssel, prevailed over the 
hesitation of Amsterdam and the other towns, and they at 
length declared for the prince of Orange, 

But this somewhat tardy determination seemed to be the 
signal for various petty events, which at an epoch like that 
were magnified into transactions of the most fatal import. A 
reinforcement of 1500 French troops reached Gorcum from 
Antwerp : a detachment of twenty-five Dutch, with a piece 



280 HISTORY OF THE NETHEliLANDS. 1H13. 

of cannon, were surprised at one of the outposts of Woerden, 
which had been previously evacuated by the French, and the 
recapture of the town was accompanied by some excesses. 
The numbers and the cruelties of the enemy were greatly ex- 
aggerated. Consternation began to spread all over the coun- 
try. The French, who seemed to have recovered from their 
panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations. The 
garrison of Gorcum made a sortie, repulsed the force under 
general Van Landas, entered the town of Dordrecht, and le- 
vied contributions : but the inhabitants soon expelled them ; 
and the army was enabled to resume its position. 

Still the wind continued adverse to arrivals from the Eng- 
lish coast; the Cossacks, so often announced, had not yet 
reached the Hague ; and the small unsupported parties in the 
neighborhood of Amsterdam were in daily danger of being 
cut off. 

In this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical 
position. On the eve of failure, and with the certainty, in 
such a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose 
rashness had drawn down ruin on themselves, their families, 
and their country, it required no common share of fortitude 
to bear up against the danger that threatened them. Aware 
of its extent, they calmly and resolutely opposed it ; and each 
seemed to vie with the others in energy and firmness. 

The anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible 
height. Every shifting of the wind was watched with nerv- 
ous agitation. The road from the Hague to the sea Avas con- 
stantly covered v»dth a crowd of every age and sex. Each 
sail that came in sight was watched and examined with in- 
tense interest ; and at length, on the 26th of November, a 
small boat was seen to approach the shore, and tlie inquiring 
glances of the observers soon discovered that it contained an 
Englishman. This individual, who had com.e over on a mer- 
cantile adventure, landed amidst the loudest acclamation, and 
was conducted by the populace in triumph to the governor's. 
Dressed in an English volunteer uniform, he showed himself 
in every part of the town, to the great delight of the people, 
who hailed him as the precursor and type of an army of de- 
liverers. 

The French soon retreated before the marvellous exag- 
gerations which the coming of this single Englishman gave 
rise to. The Dutch displayed great ability in the transmis- 
sion of false intelligence to the enemy. On the 27th Mr. 
Fagel arrived from England with a letter from the priij^e of 
Orange, announcing his im.mediate coming ; and finally, the 
disembarkation of 200 English marines, on the 29th, was fol- 



1813. WILLIAM LANDS IN HOLLAND. 281 

lowed the next day by the landing- of the prince, whose impa- 
tience to throw himself into the open arms of his country 
made him spm-n every notion of risk and every reproach for 
rashness. He was received with indescribable enthusiasm. 
The generous flame rushed through the whole country. No 
bounds were set to the affectionate confidence of the nation , 
and no prince ever gave a nobler example of gratitude. As 
the people everywhere proclaimed William I. sovereign 
prince, it was proposed that he should everywhere assume 
that title. It was, however, after some consideration, decided 
that no step of tliis nature should be taken till his most serene 
highness had visited the capital. On tlie 1st of December 
the prince issued a proclamation to his countrymen, in which 
he states his hopes of becoming, by the blessing of Providence, 
the means of restoring them to their former state of indepen- 
dence and prosperity. " This," continued he, " is my only 
object ; and I have the satisfaction of assuring you, that it is 
also the object of the combined powers. This is particularly 
the wish of the prince regent and the British nation ; and it 
will be proved to you by the succor which that powerful 
people will immediately afford you, and which will, I hope, 
restore those ancient bonds of alliance and friendship whicli 
were a source of prosperity and happiness to both countries." 
This address being distributed at Amsterdam, a proclamation, 
signed by the commissioners of the confederate patriots, was 
published there the same day : it contained the following pas- 
sages, remarkable as being the first authentic declaration of 
the sovereignty subsequently conferred on the prince of Or- 
ange : — " The uncertainty which formerly existed as to the 
executive power will no longer paralyze your efforts. It is 
not William the sixth stadtholder whom the nation recalls, 
without knowing what to hope or expect from him ; but Wil- 
liam I. who offers himself as sovereign prince of this free coun- 
try." Tlie following day, the 2d of "December, the prince 
made his entry into Amsterdam. He did not, like some other 
sovereigns, enter by a breach through the constitutional liber- 
ties of his country, in imitation of the conquerors from the 
Olympic games, v\'ho returned to the city by a breach in its 
walls: he went forward borne on the enthusiastic greetings 
of his fellow-countrymen, and meeting their confidence by a 
full measure of magnanimity. On the 3d of December he 
published an address, from which we shall quote one para- 
graph. — " You desire, Netherlands ! that I should be intrusted 
with k greater share of power than I should have possessed 
but for my absence. Your confidence, your afiection, offer 
me the sovereignty ; and I am called upon to accept it, since 



282 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. 

the state of my country and the situation of Europe require 
it. I accede to your wishes. I overlook the difficulties which 
may attend such a measure ; I accept the offer which you 
have made me ; but I accept it only on one condition, — that it 
shall be accompanied by a wise constitution, which shall guar- 
anty your liberties, and secure them ag-ainst every attack. 
My ancestors sowed the seeds of your independence: the 
preservation of that independence shall be the constant object 
of the efforts of myself and those around me." 



CHAP. XXIII. 
1814—1815. 

FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCE SOVEREIGN OF 
THE NETHERLANDS TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 

The regeneration of Holland was rapid and complete. 
Within four months, an army of 25,000 men was raised ; and 
in the midst of financial, judicial, and commercial arrange- 
ments, the grand object of the constitution was calmly and 
seriously debated. A committee, consisting of fourteen per- 
sons of the first importance in the several provinces, furnished 
the result of three months' labors in the plan of a political 
code, which was immediately printed and published for the 
consideration of the people at large. Twelve hundred names 
were next chosen from among the most respectable house- 
holders in the different towns and provinces, including per- 
sons of every religious persuasion, whether Jews or Chris- 
tians. A special commission was then formed, who selected 
from this number 600 names; and every housekeeper was 
called on to give his vote for or against their election. A 
large majority of the 600 notables thus chosen met at Am- 
sterdam, on the 28th of March, 1814. The following day they 
assembled with an immense concourse of people, in the great 
church, which was splendidly fitted up for the occasion ; and 
then and there the prince, in an impressive speech, solemnly 
offered the constitution for acceptance or rejection. After a 
few hours' deliberation, a discharge of artillery announced to 
the anxious population that the constitution had been accepted. 
The numbers present were 483, and the votes as follows : — 
Ayes, - - - 458 
Noes, - - - - 25. 
There were 117 members absent ; several of these were 



1814, THE CONSTITUTION ACCEPTED. 283 

kept away by unavoidable obstacles. The majority among- 
them was considered as dissentients ; but it was calculated 
that if the whole body of 600 had voted, the adoption of the 
constitution w^ould have been carried by a majority of five 
sixths. The dissentients chiefly objected to the power of de- 
claring war and concluding treaties of peace being vested in 
the sovereign. Some individuals urged that the Protestant 
interest was endangered by the admission of persons of every 
persuasion to all public offices ; and the Catholics complained 
that the state did not sufficiently contribute to the support of 
their religious establishments. 

Such objections as these w^ere to be expected, from indi- 
vidual interest or sectarian prejudices. But they prove that 
the w^hole plan was fairly considered and solemnly adopted ; 
that so far from being the dictation of a government, it was 
the freely chosen charter of the nation at large, offered and 
sworn to by the prince, whose authority was only exerted in 
restraining and modifying the over-ardent generosity and con- 
fidence of the people. 

Only one day more elapsed before the new sovereign was 
solemnly inaugurated, and took the oath prescribed by the 
constitution — " I swear that first and above all things I will 
maintain the constitution of the United Netherlands, and that 
I will promote, to the utmost of my power, the independence 
of the state, and the liberty and prosperity of its inhabitants." 
In the eloquent simplicity of this pledge, the Dutch nation 
found an ample guarantee for their freedom and happiness. 
With their characteristic wisdom and moderation, they saw 
that the obligation it imposed embraced every thing they 
could demand ; and they joined in the opinion expressed by 
the sovereign in his inaugural address, that " no greater de- 
gree of liberty could be desired by rational subjects, nor any 
larger share of power by the sovereign, than that allotted to 
them respectively by the political code." 

While Holland thus resumed its place among free nations, 
and France was restored to the Bourbons by the abdication of 
Napoleon, the allied armies had taken possession of and oc- 
cupied the remainder of the Low Countries, or those prov- 
inces distinguished by the name of Belgium (but then still 
forming departments of the French empire,) and the provi 
sional government was vested in baron Vincent, the Austrian 
general. This choice seemed to indicate an intention of re- 
storing Austria to her ancient domination over the country. 
Such was certainly the common opinion among those who had 
no means of penetrating the secrets of European policy at 
that important epoch. It was in fact, quite conformable to 



284 



HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



1814. 



the principle of statu quo ante helium, adopted towards 
France. Baron Vincent himself seemed to have been im- 
pressed with the false notion ; and there did not exist a doubt 
throughout Belgium of the re-es-tablisment of the old insti- 
tutions. 

But the intentions of the allied powers were of a nature 
far different. The necessity of a consolidated state capable 
of offering a barrier to French aggression on the Flemish 
frontier, was evident to the various powers who had so long 
suffered from its want. By England particularly, such a field 
was required for the operations of her armies ; and it was 
also the interest of that nation that Holland, whose welfare 
and prosperity are so closely connected with her own, should 
enjoy the blessings of national independence and civil liberty, 
guarantied by internal strength as well as friendly alliances. 

The treaty of Paris (30th May, 1814) was the first act 
which gave an open manifestation of this principle. It was 
stipulated by its sixth article, that " Holland, placed under 
the sovereignty of the house of Orange, should receive an in- 
crease of territory." In this was explained the primitive no- 
tion of the creation of the kingdom of the Netherlands, based 
on the necessity of augmenting the power of a nation which 
was destined to turn the balance between France and Ger- 
many. The following month witnessed the execution of the 
treaty of London, which prescribed the precise nature of the 
projected increase. 

It was wholly decided, without subjecting the question to 
the approbation of Belgium, that that country and Holland 
should form one United State ; and the rules of government 
in the chief branches of its administration were completely 
fixed. The prince of Orange and the plenipotentiaries of 
the great allied powers covenanted by this treaty — first, that 
the union of the two portions forming the kingdom of the 
Netherlands should be as perfect as possible, forming one 
state, governed in conformity with the fundamental law of 
Holland, which might be modified by common consent: 
secondly, that religious liberty, and the equal right of citizens 
of all persuasions to fill all the employments of the state, 
should be maintained : thirdly, that the Belgian provinces 
should be fairly presented in the assembly of the states-gene- 
ral ; and that the sessions of the states in time of peace should 
be held alternately in Belgium and in Holland : fourthly and 
fifthly, that all the commercial privileges of the country 
should be common to the citizens at large ; that the Dutch 
colonies should be considered as belonging equally to Bel- 



1S14. THE DUTCH CHARACTER. 285 

g'ium : and finally, that the public debt of the two countries, 
and the expenses of its interest, should be borne in common. 

We shall now briefly recapitulate some striking points in 
the materials which were thus meant to be amalgamated. 
Holland, wrenched from the Spanish yoke by the genius and 
courage of the early princes of Orange, had formed for two 
centuries an independent republic, to which the extension of 
maritime commerce had given immense wealth. The form 
of government was remarkable. It was composed of seven 
provinces, mutually independent of each other. These prov- 
inces possessed during the middle ages constitutions nearly 
similar to that of England : a sovereign with limited power ; 
representatives of the nobles and commons, whose concur- 
rence with the prince was necessary for the formation of 
laws; and, finally, the existence of municipal privileges, 
which each town preserved and extended by means of its 
proper force. This state of things had known but one altera- 
tion — but that a mighty one — the forfeiture of Philip II. at 
the latter end of the sixteentli century, and the total abolition 
of monarchical power. 

The remaining forms of the government were hardly 
altered ; so that the state was v/holly regulated by its ancient 
usages ; and, like some Gothic edifice, its beauty and solidity 
were perfectly original, and different from the general rules 
and modern theories of surrounding nations. The country 
loved its liberty such as it found it, and not in the fashion of 
any Utopian plan traced by some new-fangled system of politi- 
cal philosophy. Inherently Protestant and commercial, the 
Dutch abhorred every yoke but that of their own laws, of 
which they were proud even in their abuse. They held in 
particular detestation all French customs, in remembrance of 
the wretchedness they had suffered from French tyranny; 
they had unbounded confidence in the house of Orange, from 
long experience of its hereditary virtues. The main strength 
of Holland was, in fact, in its recollections ; but these, per- 
haps, generated a germ of discontent, in leading it to expect 
a revival of all the influence it had lost, and was little likely 
to recover, in the total cha,nge of systems and the variations 
of trade. There nevertheless remained sufficient capital ir 
the country, and the people were sufficiently enlightened, tf; 
give just and extensive hope for the future which now dawned 
on them. The obstacles offered by the Dutch character to 
the proposed union were chiefly to be found in the dogmatical 
opinions, consequent on the isolation of the country from all 
the principles that actuated other states, and particularly that 
with which it was now joined : while long-cherished senti- 



286 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. 

ments of opposition to the Catholic religion was little likely 
to lead to feelings of accommodation and sympathy with its 
new fellow-citizens. 

The inhabitants of Belgium, accustomed to foreign domi- 
nation, were little shocked by the fact of the allied powers 
having disposed of their fate without consulting their wishes. 
But they were not so indifferent to the double discovery of 
finding themselves the subjects of a Dutch and a Protestant 
king. Without entering at large into any invidious discus- 
sion on the causes of the natural jealousy which they felt 
towards Holland, it may suffice to state that such did exist, 
and in no very moderate degree. The countries had hitherto 
had but little community of interests with each other ; and 
they formed elements so utterly discordant as to afford but 
slight hope tliat they would speedily coalesce. The lower 
classes of the Belgian population were ignorant as well as 
superstitious (not that these two qualities are to be considered 
as inseparable) ; and if they were averse to the Dutch, they 
were perliaps not more favorably disposed to the French and 
Austrians. The majority of the nobles may be said to have 
leant more, at this period, to the latter than to either of the 
other two people. But the great majority of the industrious 
and better informed portions of the middle orders felt differ- 
ently from the other two, because they had found tangible 
and positive advantages in their subjection to France, which 
overpowered every sentiment of political degradation. 

We thus see there was little sympathy between the mem- 
bers of the national family. The first glance at the geo- 
graphical position of Holland and Belgium might lead to a 
belief that their interests were analogous. But we have 
traced the anomalies m government and religion in the two 
countries, which led to totally different pursuits and feelings. 
Holland had sacrificed manufactures to commerce. The in- 
troduction, duty free, of grain from the northern parts of 
Europe, though checkmg the progress of agriculture, had 
not prevented it to flourish marvellously, considering* this 
obstacle to culture ; and, faithful to their traditional notions, 
the Dutch saw the elements of well-being only in that liberty 
of importation which had made their harbors the marts and 
magazines of Europe. But the Belgian, to use the expres- 
sions of an acute and well-informed writer, " restricted in the 
thrall of a less liberal religion, is bounded in the narrow cir- 
cle of his actual locality. Concentrated in his home, he does 
not look beyond the limits of his native land, which he re- 
gards exclusively. Incurious, and stationary in a happy ex- 



1815. FORMATION OF THE MONARCHY. 287 

istence, he has no interest m what passes beyond his own 
doors."* 

Totally unaccustomed to the free principles of trade so 
cherished by the Dutch, the Belgians had found, under the 
protection of the French custom-house laws, an internal com- 
merce and agricultural advantages, which composed their 
peculiar prosperity. They found a consumption for the pro- 
duce of their well-cultivated lands, at high prices, in the 
neighboring provinces of France. The webs woven by the 
Belgian peasantry, and generally all the manufactures of the 
country, met no rivalry from those of England, which were 
strictly prohibited ; and being commonly superior to those of 
France, the sale was sure and the profit considerable. 

Belgium was as naturally desirous of this state of things 
as Holland was indifferent to it; but it could only have been 
accomplished by the destruction of free trade, and the exclu- 
sive protection of internal manufactures. Under such dis- 
crepancies as we have thus traced in religion, character, and 
local interests, the two countries were made one ; and on the 
new monarch devolved the hard and delicate task of recon- 
ciling each party in the ill-assorted match, and inspiring them 
with sentunents of mutual moderation. 

Under the title of governor-general of the Netherlands 
(for his mtended elevation to the throne, and the definitive 
junction of Holland and Belgium were still publicly un- 
known), the prince of Orange repaired to his new state. He 
arrived at Brussels in the month of August, 1814, and his 
first effort was to gain the hearts and the confidence of the 
people, though he saw the nobles and the higher orders of 
the inferior classes (with the exception of the merchants) in- 
triguing all around him for the re-establishment of the Aus- 
trian power. Petitions on this subject were printed and dis- 
tributed ; and the models of those anti-national documents 
may still be referred to in a work published at the time.f 

As soon as the moment came for promulgatmg the decision 
of the sovereign powers as to the actual extent of the new 
kingdom — that is to say, in the month of February, 1815 — 
the whole plan was made public ; and a commission, consist- 
ing of twenty-seven members, Dutch and Belgian, was form- 
ed, to consider the modifications necessary in the fundamental 
law of 'Holland, in pursuance of the stipulation of the treaty 
of London^ After due deliberation these modifications were 

* L'Abb6 de Pradt, de la Belgique, pp. 10. 14. 
t History of the Low Coiintries, by St. Genoist. 

19 



288 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 

formed, and the great political pact was completed for the 
final acceptance of the king and people. 

As a document so important merits particular consideration, 
in reference to the formation of the new monarchy, we shall 
briefly condense the reasonings of the most impartial and 
well-informed classes in the country on the constitution now 
about to be framed. Every one agreed that some radical 
change in the whole form of government was necessary, and 
that its main improvement should be the strengthening of the 
executive power. That possessed by the former stadtholders 
of Holland was often found to be too much for the chief of a 
republic, too little for the head of a monarchy.* The assem- 
bly of the states-general, as of old constructed, was defective 
in many points ; in none so glaringly so, as in that condition 
which required unanimity in questions of peace or war, and 
in the provision, from which they had no power to swerve, 
that all the taxes should be uniform. Both these stipulations 
were, of sheer necessity, continually disregarded ; so that 
the government could be carried on at all only by repeated 
violations of the constitution. In order to excuse measures 
dictated by this necessity, each stadtholder was perpetually 
obliged to form partisans, and he thus became the hereditary 
head of a faction.f His legitimate power was trifling ; but 
his influence was capable of fearful increase : for the prin- 
ciple which allowed him to infringe the constitution, even on 
occasions of public good, might be easily warped into a pre- 
text for encroachments that had no bounds but his own will. 

Besides, the preponderance of the deputies from the com- 
mercial towns in the states-general caused the others to be- 
come mere ciphers in times of peace ; only capable of clogging 
the march of affairs, and of being, on occasions of civil dis- 
sensions, the mere tools of whatever party possessed the 
greatest tact in turning them to their purpose. J Hence a 
wide field was open to corruption. Uncertainty embarrassed 
every operation of the government. The Hague became an 
arena for the conflicting intrigues of every court in Europe. 
Holland was dragged into almost every war ; and thus grad- 
ually weakened from its rank among independent nations, it 
at length fell an easy prey to the French invaders. 

To prevent the recurrence of such evils as those, and to 
establish a kingdom on the solid basis of a monarchy, une- 
quivocal in its essence yet restrained in its prerogative, the 
constitution we are now examining was established. Accord- 
ing to the report of the commissioners who framed it, " It is 

* Chad. \ Idem. J Idem. 

\ 



1615. JVAPOLEO:^*' KKTURXS PROM EL«A. 289 

founded on the manners and habits of the nation, on its pub- 
lic economy and its old institutions, with a disregard for the 
ephem.eral constitutions of the age. It is not a mere abstrac- 
tion, more or less ingenious, but a law adapted to the state 
of the country ui the nineteenth century. It did not recon- 
struct what was worn out by time ; but it revived all that 
was worth preserving. In such a system of laws and insti- 
tutions well adapted to each other, the members of the com- 
mission belonging to the Belgian provinces recognized the 
basis of their ancient charters, and the principles of their 
former liberty. They found no difficulty in adapting this law, 
so as to make it common to the two nations, united by ties 
which had been broken only for their* own misfortune and 
that of Europe, and which it was once more the interest of 
Europe to render indissoluble." 

The news of the elevation of William I. to the throne was 
received in the Dutch provinces with great joy, in as far as 
it concerned him personally ; but a joy considerably tempered 
by doubt and jealousy, as regarded their junction with a 
country sufficiently large to counterbalance Holland, oppose 
interests to interests, and people to people. National pride 
and over-sanguine expectations prevented a calm judgment 
on the existing state of Europe, and on the impossibility of 
Holland, in its ancient limits, maintaining the influence Vv^hich 
it was hoped it would acquire. 

In Belgium the formation of the new monarchy excited the 
most lively sensation. The clergy and the nobility were 
considerably agitated and not slightly alarmed; the latter 
fearing the resentment of the king for their avowed predilec- 
tion in favor of Austria, and perceiving the destruction of 
every hope of aristocratical domination. The more elevated 
of the middle classes also saw an end to their exclusive oc- 
cupation of magisterial and municipal employments. The 
manufacturers, great and small, saw the ruin of monopoly 
staring them in the face. The whole people took fright at 
the weight of the Dutch debt, which was considerably greater 
than that of Belgium. No one seemed to look beyond the 
present moment. The advantage of colonial possessions 
seemed remote and questionable to those who possessed no 
maritune commerce ; and the pride of national independence 
was foreign to the feelings of those who had never yet tasted 
its blessings. 

It was in this state of public feeling that intelligence was 
received, in March, 1815, of the reappearance in France of 
the emperor Napoleon. At the head of 300 men he had taken 
the resolution, without parallel even among the grandest of 



290 HISTORY OF THK NETHERLANDS. 1815 

his own powerful conceptions, of invading a country contain- 
ing thirty millions of people, girded by the protecting armies 
of coalesced Europe, and imbued, beyond all doubt, with an 
almost general objection to the former despot who now put 
his foot on its shores, with imperial pretensions only founded 
on the memory of his by-gone glory. His march to Paris was 
a miracle ; and the vigor of his subsequent measures redeems 
the ambitious imbecility with which he had hurried on the 
catastrophe of his previous fall. 

The flight of Louis XVIIL from Paris was the sure signal 
to the kingdom of the Netherlands, in which he took refuge, 
that it was about to become the scene of another contest for 
the life or death of despotismx. Had the invasion of Belgium, 
which now took place, been led on by one of the Bourbon 
family, it is probable that the priesthood, the people, and even 
the nobility, would have given it not merely a negative sup- 
port. But the name of Napoleon was a bugbear for every 
class; and the efforts of the king and government, which 
met with most enthusiastic support in the northern provinces, 
were seconded with zeal and courage by the rest of the king- 
dom. 

The national force was soon in the field, under the com- 
mand of the prince of Orange, the king's eldest son, and heir 
apparent to the throne for which he now prepared to fight. 
His brother, prince Frederick, commanded a division under 
him. The English army, under the duke of Wellington, oc- 
cupied Brussels and the various cantonments in its neighbor- 
hood ; and the Prussians, commanded by prince Blucher, 
were in readiness to co-operate with their allies on the first 
movement of the invaders. 

Napoleon, hurrying from Paris to strike some rapid and 
decisive blow, passed the Sambre on the 15th of June, at the 
head of the French army, 150,000 strong, driving the Prus- 
sians before him beyond Charleroi and back on the plain of 
Fleurus with some loss. On the 16th w^as fought the bloodj^ 
battle of Ligny, in which the Prussians sustained a decided 
defeat; but they retreated in good order on the little river 
Lys, followed by marshal Grouchy with 30,000 men detached 
by Napoleon in their pursuit. On the same day the British 
advanced position at Quatre Bras, and the cmys d''ormfP 
■ .■'-ommanded by the prince of Orange, were fiercely attacked 
by marshal Ney ; a battalion of Belgian infantry and a bri 
gade of horse artillery having been engaged in a skirmish 
the preceding evening at Frasnes with the French advanced 
troops. 

The affair of Quatre Bras was sustained with admirable 



y ^15. BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 291 

firmness by the allied English and Netherland forces, agauist 
an enemy infinitely superior in number, and commanded by 
one of the best generals in France. The prince of Orange, 
with only 9000 men, maintained his position till three o'clock 
in the afternoon, despite the continual attacks of marshal 
Ney, who commanded the left of the French army, consisting 
of 43,000 men.* But the interest of this combat, and the 
details of the loss in killed and wounded, are so merged in 
the succeeding battle, which took place on the 18th, tha 
they form in most minds a combination of exploits which the 
interv^al of a day can scarcely be considered to have separated. 

The 17th was occupied by a retrograde movement of the 
allied army, directed by the duke of Wellington, for the pur- 
pose of takmg its stand on the position he had previously 
fixed on for the pitched battle, the decisive nature of which 
his determined foresight had anticipated. Several affairs 
between the French and English cavalry took place during 
this movement; and it is pretty well established that the 
enemy, flushed with the victory over Blucher of the preced- 
ing day, were deceived by this short retreat of Wellington, 
and formed a very mistaken notion of its real object, or of the 
desperate reception destined for the m.orrow's attack. 

The battle of Waterloo has been over and over described 
and profoundly felt, until its records may be said to exist in 
the very hearts and memories of the nations. The fiery valor 
of the assault, and the unshakable firmness of the resistance, 
are perhaps without parallel in the annals of war. The im- 
mense stake depending on the result, the grandeur of Napo- 
leon's isolated efforts against the flower of the European 
forces, and the awful responsibility resting on the head of 
their great leader, give to this conflict a romantic sublimity, 
unshared by all the manoeuvring of science in a hundred 
commonplace combats of other wars. It forms an epoch in 
the history of battles. It is to the full as memorable as an 
individual event, as it is for the consequences which followed 
it. It was fought by no rules, and gained by no tactics. It 
was a fair stand-up fight on level ground, where downright 
manly courage was alone to decide the issue. This derogates 
in nothing from the splendid talents and deep knowledge of 
the rival commanders. Their reputation for all the intricate 
qualities of generalship rests on the broad base of previous 
victories. This day was to be won by strength of nerve and 
steadiness of heart ; and a moral grandeur is thrown over its 

* Journal de Las Cases, t. iii. p. 336. 



292 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 

result, by the reflection that human skill had little to do 
where so much was left to Providence. 

We abstain from entering- on details of the battle. It is 
enough to state, that throughout the day the troops of the 
Netherlands sustained the character for courage which so 
many centuries had established. Various opinions have gone 
forth as to the conduct of the Belgian troops on this memora- 
ble occasion. Isolated instances were possibly found among 
a mass of several thousands, of that nervous weakness which 
neither the noblest incitements nor the finest examples can 
conquer. Old associations and feelings not effaced might 
have slackened the efforts of a few, directed against former 
comrades or personal friends whom the stern necessity of 
politics had placed in opposing ranks. Raw troops might here 
and there have shrunk from attacks the most desperate on 
record ; but that the great principle of public duty, on grounds 
purely national, pervaded the army, is to be found in the offi- 
cial reports of its loss : 2058 men killed and 1936 wounded 
prove indelibly that the troops of the Netherlands had their 
full share in the honor of the day. The victory was cemented 
by the blood of the prince of Orange, who stood the brunt of 
the fight with his gallant soldiers. His conduct was con- 
formable to the character of his whole race, and to his own 
reputation during a long series of service with the British 
army in the Spanish peninsula. He stood bravely at the head 
of his troops during the murderous conflict ; or, like Welling- 
ton, in whose school he was formed and whose example was 
beside him, rode from rank to rank and column to column, 
inspiring his men by the proofs of his untiring courage. 

Several anecdotes are related of the prince's conduct 
throughout the day. One is remarkable as affording an ex- 
ample of those pithy epigrams of the battle-field with which 
history abounds, accompanied by an act that speaks a fine 
knowledge of the soldier's heart. On occasion of one pecu- 
liarly desperate charge, the prince, hurried on by his ardor, 
was actually in the midst of the French, and was in the great- 
est danger ; Vv^hen a Belgian battalion rushed forward, and, 
after a fierce struggle, repulsed the enemy and disengaged 
the prince. In the impulse of his admiration and gratitude, 
he tore from his breast one of those decorations gained by his 
own conduct on some preceding occasion, and flung it among 
the battalion, calling out, " Take it, take it, my lads ! you 
have all earned it !" This decoration Vv^as immediately grap- 
pled for, and tied to the regimental standard, amidst loud 
shouts of " Long live the prince !" and vows to defend the 



1815. EFFECTS OP THE BATTLE OF AVALERLOO. 293 

trophy, in the very utterance of which many a brave fellow 
received the stroke of death. 

A short time afterwards, and just half an hour before that 
terrible charge of the whole line, which decided the victory, 
the prince was struck by a musket-ball in the left shoulder. 
He was carried from the field, and conveyed that evening- to 
Brussels, in the same cart with one of his wounded aids-de 
camp, supported by another, and displaying throughout as 
much indifference to pain as he had previously shown con- 
tempt of danger. 

The battle of Waterloo consolidated the kingdom of the 
Netherlands. The wound of the prince of Orange was, per- 
haps, one of the most fortunate that was ever received by an 
individual, or sympathized in by a nation. To a warlike peo- 
ple, wavering in their allegiance, this evidence of the prince's 
valor acted like a talisman agamst disaffection. The organi- 
zation of the kingdom was immediately proceeded on. The 
commission, charo-ed with the revision of the fundamental 
lavv', and the modification required by the increase of terri- 
tory, presented its report on the 31st of July. The inaugura- 
tion of the king took place at Brussels on the 21st of Septem- 
ber, in presence of the states-general : and the ceremony re- 
ceived additional interest from the appearance of the sovereign 
supported by his two sons who had so valiantly fought for 
the rights he now swore to maintain ; the heir to the crown 
yet bearing his wounded arm in a scarf, and showing in his 
countenance the marks of recent suffering. 

The constitution was finally accepted by the nation, and 
the principles of the government were stipulated and fixed in 
one grand view — that of the union, and, consequently, the 
force of the new state. 

It has been asked by a profound and sagacious inquirer, or 
at least the question is put forth on undoubted authority in his 
name, " Why did England create for herself a difficulty, and 
what will be by and by a natural enemy, in uniting Holland 
and Belgium, in place of managing those two immense re- 
sources to her commerce by keeping them separate 1 for Hol- 
land, without manufactures, was the natural mart for those of 
England, w^hile Belgium under an English prince had been 
the route for constantly inundating France and Germany."* 

So asked Napoleon, and England may answer and justify 
her conduct so impugned, on principles consistent with the 

* Las Cases, Journal de la Vie pviv^e et Conversations de Napoleon, t. 
iii. p. 83, 



2U4 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 

general wishes and the common good of Europe. The dis- 
cussion of the question is foreign to our purpose, which is to 
trace the c.fcumstances, not to argue on the policy, that led 
to the formation of the Netherlands as they now exist. But 
it appears that the different integral parts of the nation were 
amalgamated from deep-formed designs for their mutual bene- 
fit, Belgium was not given to Holland, as the already-cited 
article of the treaty of Paris might at first sight seem to im 
ply : nor was Holland allotted to Belgium. But they were 
o-rafted together, with all the force of legislative wisdom ; not 
that one might be dominant and the other oppressed, but that 
both should bend to form an arch of common strength, able to 
resist the weight of such invasions as had perpetually perilled, 
md often crushed, their separate independence. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abercromeie, Sir Ralph, commands 
the armament established for the 
House of Orange, 270. 

Aixia-Chapelle, treaty of, 260. 

Albert of Saxony, 65. 

Albert, Archduke, arrives at Brussels 
170. Captures Calais, 171. Mar 
riage and inauguration of, 173. En- 
try of, into the Netherlands, 179. 
Defeated by prince Maurice, 182. 

Alencon, the duke of, appointed sove 
reign, 144. Obliges Parma to raise 
the siege of Cambray, and enters 
the town triumphantly, 146. Made 
duke of Anjou; repairs to England 
and offers marriage to Elizabeth, ib. 
Attacks Antwerp, 148. His death, 
150. 

Alliance, quadruple, 257. 

Alva, duke of, one of the council of 
Philip II. at Segovia, 108. Arrival 
of, at Brussels, 115. Summons a 
meeting of the members of the coun- 
cil of state, 116. Retirement, 117. 
Horrors of his administration, 119. 
Defeats the patriots and the prince 
of Orange, 121. Causes sixty citi- 
zens to be executed, 123. His recall 
and death, 126. 

Anabaptists, rise of, 71. 

Andrew of Austria placed at the head 
of the temporary government, 173. 

Anne of England, accession of, 253. 
Carries on the war with France 
energetically, 253. 

Anthony duke of Brabant, death of, 50. 

Antwerp, sack of, 132. Siege of, 156. 
Effects of the fire-ships, 157. Ar- 
minius, 200. His death, ib. 

Arminians, persecution of, 204. 

Armada, the invincible, 163. 

Arschot, duke of, made governor of 
Flanders, 138. Foiled in his pro- 
jects, ib. 

B. 

Baldwin Bras-de-fer, 32. 

Baldwin of the Comely Beard, 34. 

Barnevuldt recovers Brille, Flessin- 
gue, and the fort of Rammekins, 202. 
Opposition of, to the ambitious 
views of ftlaurice, 203. Resignation 
and imprisonment of, 205. Death 
of, 206. 

Batavians, degeneracy of, 21. 

Boigium, invasion of, 219. 



Blake, admiral, engagement of, with 
Admiral Tromp, 234. 

Boisot, success of, in favor of the pa- 
triots, 127. 

Bokelzoon, 71. Imprisonment of, in 
an iron cage, ib. 

Bonaparte, a French general, 268. Ele- 
vation of, 271. Decline of, 273. Ab- 
dication of, 283. Reappearance of, 
in France, 290. 

Bonaparte, Louis, king of Holland, 
271. Abdication of, 272. 

Bouvines, battle of, 42. 

Brussels, union of, 136. 

Buckingham, the English ambassador, 
failure of, to corrupt the prince of 
Orange, 244. 



Cambray, league of, 67. Peace of, 71 

Campo-Formio, treaty of, 268. 

Carlos, don, death of, 120. 

Cassambrot, John, punishes the icono- 
clasts, 108. 

Cassel, battle of, 46. 

Cassimir, John, count palatine, re- 
pairs to the assistance of the States, 
141. 

Cassimir of Nassau, count Henry, 
death of, 220, 

Cateau-Cambresis, peace of, 83. 

Csesar, invasion of, 17. 

Charlemagne, government of, 29. 

Charles count of Charolois, called " the 
Rash," 50. Contrasted with Louis 
XI. of France, 57. Policy of, 58. 
Takes Louis prisoner, ib. Plan of 
aggrandizement of, CO. Conquers 
Lorraine, Gl. Defeat at Morat, and 
death of, 62. 

Charles of Egmont, 65. 

Charles V., visit of, to England, 70. 
Punishes the people of Ghent, 72. 
Severity against the reformers, 73. 
Retirement and death of, 74. 

Charles I. of England, 216. 

Charles II. of England, restoration of, 
238. Perfidy of, 240. Exacts hu- 
miliating conditions of peace from 
the United Provinces, 243. His 
death, 247. 

Charles VI., emperor, death of, 259. 

Christian of Brunswick, 211. 

Civilis repulses the Romans, 21. 

Commerce, progress of, 175. 

Confederates, perfect organization of, 
98. Consolidation of, plans of, ib 



296 



Procession of, to the palace, and 
banquet of, 99. Adopt the title of 
Gueux, 100. Dissolution of, 114. 

Congress at the Hague, 195. 

Cortenburgh, the contracts of, 45. 

Counts of 'the empire, 29. 

Cromwell insists on conditions of 
peace humiliating to the States, 236. 
His death, 238. 

Crusades, the, 42. 



D'Artaveldt, James, the brewer of 
Ghent, 46. Conservator of the peace 
of Flanders, 47. His death, ib. 

Dathen, Peter, 104. 

D'Avila defeats Louis of Nassau at 
Mookerheyde, 128. 

De Barneveldt, 185. Advocates the 
cause of peace, 192. Opposes Mau- 
rice, 199. Embraces Arminianism, 
200. 

De Berlaimont, count, at the head of 
the financial department, 87. 

De Brederode fails in an attempt to 
see the governant, 112. Defeated at 
Valenciennes, and flies to Germany, 
113. 

De Granvelle, Anthony Perrenotte, 
bishop of Arras, 8.3. Character of, 87. 

DeGroeneveld, Renier, plot of against 
Maurice, 212. Death of, 213. 

De la Marck, William, success of, in 
surprising Brille, 124. A general 
insurrection the consequence of his 
success, ib. Deprived of his com- 
mand, 125. 

De Male, count Louis, defeat of, 48. 

De Marnix, Philip, lord of St. Alde- 
gonde, 98. 

De Neyen, John, employed to nego- 
tiate peace, 192. 

De Ruyter, death of, 245. 

Dettingen, battle of, 259. 

De Winter, imprisonment of, 270. 

De Witt, Cornellizon, admiral,impris- 
oned, 231, and liberated, 232. 

De Witts, the, murder of, 243. 

Don John declared an enemy, and or- 
dered to quit the country, 140. As- 
sisted by the prince of Parma, ib. 
His death, 141. 

Dort, synod of, 206. 

Dordrecht, situation of, 36. 

Downs, battle of, 220. 

Dumouriez gains the victory of Je- 
mappes, 2iJ7. Defeat and flight of, 
2G8. 

Duncan, Sir Adam, encounters the 
Dutch fleet, 270. 



Ecclesiastical power, rise of, 34. 
Edict, the perpetual, 136. 



Edward III. joined by the Flemings 
46. 

Egmont, count, popularity of, 92. 
Sent to Philip on a mission, 94. 
Made prisoner, 116. 

Elizabeth of England solicits mercy 
of Philip for the States, 131. Assists 
the confederates, 136. Sends the 
Earl of Leicester to Holland, 160. 
Recalls her troops and demands pay- 
ment of her loans from the states • 
general, 179. Her death, 185. 

Epinoi, the princess, defends Tour- 
nay in the absence of the governor, 
146. 

Ernest, archduke, accused of being in 
league with others to assassinate 
prince Maurice, 169. His death, 170. 

Eugene, prince, carries on the war 
with France, 253. 



Fitz-Osborn, William, death of, 38. 

Flanders, commencement of, 32. Com- 
merce of, 38. Attached to France, 
yet independent of it, ib. 

Fleurus, battle of, 268. 

Fontenoy, battle of, 259. 

Franks, character of, 23. Defeat of, 24. 

Francis I. of France, 70. 

Francis II., successor of Leopold, 267. 

Frederick, the elector palatine, 210. 

Friesland, final conquest of, 27. 

Frisons, 19. Union of, with the Flem- 
ish people, 29. Privileges of, analo- 
gous to Magna Charta, 31. Political 
institutions of, 41. 



George II. achieves the victory of 
Dettingen, 259. 

Gerard, Balthazar, murders the prince 
of Orange, 152. Death of, 153. 

Ghent, rebellion of, 55. Pacification 
of, 133. 

Gildonise Charta, 30. 

Giles de Rypergherste conquers the 
dauphin of France, in a pitched bat- 
tle, 47. 

Gomar, 200. 

Gomarists, called Remonstrants, 200. 

Godfrey king of the Normans, 33. As- 
sassination of, ib. 

Godfrey of Bouillon, 42. 

Godfrey count of Ardenne, lieutenant 
of Lower Lorraine, 33. 

Granvelle obtains the archiepiscopa 
see of Mechlin, and title of primat 
of the Low Countries, 88. Confede 
racy against him, GO. Unpopularity 
of, 93." Dismissal from office, ib. 

Grotius, imprisonment of, 206. Escape 
of, 209. Character of his writings, 
926. 



INDEX. 



297 



Guelders, wars of, 65. 
Gueux, the title of, adopted by the 
confederates, 100. 

H. 

Haranguer, captain, surprises Breda, 
165. 

Hautain, admiral, 196. 

fleemskirk, brilliant victory of, liJO. 

Hein, Peter, naval success of, 216. 

Henibyse, rebellion of, 13'J. Death of, 
151. 

Henry V. of England, alliance of, 
v>'ith Philip duke of Burgundy, 53. 

Henry, Frederick, brother to prince 
Maurice, 181. Succeeds his brother, 
215. Receives the title of highness 
in place of excellency, 221. His 
death, 224. 

Henry IV. of France, defeat of, 166. 
Gives assistance to the states, 179. 
Assassination of, 198. 

Heinsius, the grand pensionary, fol- 
lows up the views of William II., 
252. 

Holland, formation of, 36. 

HoUe, count of, 97. 

Hoogerbeets, imprisonment of, 206. 

Horn, count, popularity of, 92. Re- 
tirement of, 102. 

I. 

Inquisition, establishment of, 95. 

Isabella, wife of Albert, entry of, to 
the Netherlands, 179. Harangues 
the troops, 180. Her death, 218. 



Jacqueline of Holland, 52. Separation 
from her husband, flight to England, 
and projected marriage with Glou- 
cester, 53. Defeated and abandoned 
by Gloucester, 54. 

James I. of England, his reception of 
the ambassadors from the states- 
general, 185. Enters the polemical 
lists as a Gomarist, 20J. Refuses 
assistance to Frederick the elector, 
210. 

James II. of England, accession of, 
247. Rejects the assistance of Louis 
XIV. against the prince of Orange, 
248. 

Jaureguay, John, attempt of, to mur- 
der the prince of Orange, 147. 

Jemappes, victory of, 267. 

John the Fearless, count of Nevers,50. 
Wars with Great Britain, ib. 

John of Bavaria, the Pitiless, 51. 

John duke of Brabant, marriage of, 52. 

John, don, of Austria, arrival of, in 
Luxembourg, 134. Entry of, to 
Brussels, 136. Takes possession of 
the citadel, 137, 



Joseph II. successor to Maria Tlieresa, 

261. His death, 266. 
Judith, daughter of Cliarles the Bald 

marriage of, 32. 
Justin of Nassau, 163. 



Lambert and Reginald, struggle of 
for independence, 33. 

Lambert II. count oflLouvain, 3-1. 

Ledenberg, imprisonment of, 206 
Death of, ib. 

Leicester invades Holland, 160. Un- 
popularity of, 161. Death of, 164. 

Leopold, successor to Joseph II., 206. 
Death of, 267. 

Leyden, siege of, 128. 

Ligny, battle of, 290. 

Lorraine, Higher and Lower, 34. 

Louis, count, of Cressy, 45. 

Louis XI. of France, 57. Imprison- 
ment of, 58. Policy towards Charles 
duke of Burgundy, 61. Defeat of, 
at Guinegate, 63. 

Louis XII. of France, G7. 

Louis XIV. arrogates supreme power, 
247. Rejoices at the death of Wil- 
liam of Nassau, 253. Too old to 
command his troops, 254. Reduced 
to a state of humiliation, 255. 

Louis XV. invades the Austrian 
Netherlands, 259. 

Louis XVIII., flight of, from Paris, 
346. 

Louis of Nassau, success of in favor 
of the patriots, 124. Defeat and 
death of, 128. 

M. 

Mansfield, count of, successor to Par- 
ma, 168. 

Maria Theresa, heroism of, 259. Es 
tablished in her rights, 260. Re- 
duced to widowhood, 261. 

Margaret of Austria, 67. Negotiation 
with Henry VIII. of England, 68. 

Marguerite, Madame, duchess of Par- 
ma, made governant-general, 84. 
Issues orders favorable to the re- 
formers, 103. Sends the Prince of 
Orange to appease them, 107. En- 
deavors to destroy the union of-the 
patriot lords. 111. Establishes a 
new oath of allegiance, 113. Re- 
monstrates with Philip about his 
invasion under Alva, 115. Retire- 
ment and death of, 117. 

Marlborough, duke of, carries on the 
war with France, 253. Opens his 
first campaign, 254. 

Martel, Charles, defeat of, 26. Duke 
of the Franks, 27. 

Mary, daughter of Charles the Rash, 
62. Marriage of, 63. 



298 



Mathias, archduke, made governor, 
138. Taken prisoner, 139. Libera- 
tion of, ib. Installation of, 140, 
Retires to Antwerp, ib. 

Maurice, prince, becomes prince of 
Orange, 126. Made stadtholder, 
captain-general, and admiral of 
Holland and Zealand, 160. Unites 
in himself the whole power of com- 
mand, 1G2. Takes advantage of 
the absence of Parma, 166. Checks 
the cruelty of Mendoza, 178. At- 
tempts tlie invasion of Flanders, 
180. Invests Nieuport, ib. Defeats 
the royalists, 182. Takes the field 
against Spinola, 189. Hostility of, 
to Barneveldt, 192. Becomes a Go- 
marist, 200. Receives tlie order of 
the Garter, 201. Intrigues for regal 
power, 203. Advances the Calvin- 
ists' party, 204. Defeats Spinola at 
the siege of Bergen-op-zoom, 211. 
Plot against him, 212. He punishes 
the conspirators, 213. His death, 
215. 

Maximilian of Austria, marriage of, 

63. Imprisonment of ib. 
Blazarin, cardinal, 223. 
Menapians, 19. 

Mendoza, cruelties of, 177. Wounded 

and taken prisoner, 183. 
Money-fleet, the, 217. 
Mook, battle of, 128. 
Morat, battle of, 61. 
Mons, seized on by Louis of Nassau 

and De Genlis ; retaken by Alva's 

son, 124. 
Munster, treaty of, 224. 

N. 
Netherlands, situation of, 15. State 
of, in the days of Pliny, 16. Effects 
from inundations of the sea and 
rivers, ib. Invasion of Csesar, 17. 
Effects of the Roman alliance, 20, 
The southern portion called Belgic 
Gaul, 21. Introduction of Chris- 
tianity, 25. Under Charlemagne, 
29. Commerce, and legislation of, 
42. Revolt of the towns, 45. Junc- 
tion of the Flemings with Edward 
III. of England, 46. Feudality de- 
feated by civic freedom, 48. Sove- 
reignty assumed by the duke of 
Burgundy, ib. Formation of a na- 
tional council, 50. Feeble state un- 
der the government of Maximilian, 

64. Government of Margaret of 
Austria, 68. Progress of the refor- 
mation, ib. War with France, 70. 
The whole of the provinces united 
under one sovereign, 74. Conmier- 
cial wealth, ib. Cultivation of the 
fine arts. 76. Opulent state of the 
nation, 8.5. Inefficiency of the gov- 



ernment under Phiiip II., 86. The 
inquisition established, 95. Com- 
mencement of the revolution, 96. 
The manifesto of the confederates. 
98. Progress of the reformation. 
103. Abolition of the inquisition, 
108. Compromise with the reform- 
ers, 108. Conference at Termonde, 
111. Commencement of the civil 
war, 112. Dissolution of the con- 
federacy, 114. Alva's arrival and 
tyranny, 116. General horror at the 
death of Don Carlos and the queen, 
120. Disaster of the patriots, 121. 
Naval force of the patriots, 122. 
General insurrection, 124. Distress- 
ed state of the country, 126. Evil 
effects of the plague, 127. Anarchy 
and confusion after the death of 
Requesens, 131. The members of 
the council-chamber imprisoned, 
132. The states-general assemble at 
Ghent, 133. Demolition of the cita- 
dels rendered odious by the excesses 
of the Spanish, 137. Revival of 
civil war, 140. They renounce the 
sovereignty of Spain, 143. Public 
ingratitude towards the prince of 
Orange, 150. The power of Spain 
established again in the whole 
province of Flanders, 155. Lament- 
able state of the country, ib. Nego- 
tiations opened with France and 
England at once, 159. Suspicion 
and dislike towards England, 161. 
The effects of the spreading of the 
reformation and enlightenment, 
174. The States unsuccessful in a 
naval expedition, 179. Success of 
the royalists, 180. Prince Maurice 
and Spinola, 186. Maritime enter- 
prise, 188. Disgraceful naval affair, 
190. Negotiations for peace, 191. 
Assembly of ambassadors, 193. A 
twelve years' truce, 196. Religious 
dissensions, 199. Expiration of the 
twelve years' truce, 209. War in 
Germany, 210. Naval success, 216. 
Naval success of the republic, 220. 
Civil wars in England, 222. Finan- 
cial embarrassments, 223. Litera- 
ture and the arts, 226. Commerce, 
228. Manners of the people, 229. 
Naval war with England, 233. The 
navigation act, 234. Naval suc- 
cesses, 237. Hostilities renewed, 239. 
The French invade Holland, 242. 
Holland perseveres in the contest 
with France, 245. English revolu- 
tion, 248. War renewed, 254. Seven 
years' war, 260. Peace with Eng- 
land, 262. Discontent in Belgium, 
264. Insurrection and confedera- 
tion, 266. War between France 
and Austria, 367. Belgium a French 



29S 



province, 265. Abolition of the 
office and title of stadtholder, 269. 
Decline of the French power, 273. 
Restoration of the prince of Orange, 
275. New constitution, 282. 

Nimeguen, peace of, 245. 

Nieuport, battle of, 181. 

Normans, not renowned before the 
time of Charlemagne, 32. Forma- 
tion of the Monarchy, 285. 

O. 

Drange, prince of, William I. of Nas- 
sau, opposition of, to Granvelle, 90. 
Opposition of, to the views of Philip, 
94. Is sent to appease the con- 
federates, 107. Summons his bro- 
ther J^ouis, counts Egmont, Horn, 
and Hoogstraeten, to a conference 
at Termonde, 111. Refuses the new 
oath of allegiance, and retires to 
Germany, 114. Opposition to Alva's 
tyranny, 120. Defeated by Alva, 
and retires to France, 121. Returns 
to Brabant, 124. Relieves the in- 
habitants of Leyden by destroying 
the besieging army with an inun- 
dation of the ocean, 129. Policy of, 
with queen Elizabeth, 131. Sends 
an admonitory memorial to the 
states-general, 136. Made governor 
of Brabant, 137. Draws up the basis 
of a treaty for Mathias's accept- 
ance, 138. Assembles the states- 
general to abjure the dominion of 
Spam, 143. Answers Philip's edict, 
145. Shot in the head by an assas- 
sin, 147. His recovery, 148. Pro- 
tects the dukeof Anjou from public 
reprobation— retires to Zealand 
150. His death, 152. 

Ostend, siege of, 184. 

P. 

Paris, treaty of, 284. 

Parma, duchess of, retirement of, 117. 

Parma, prince of, marriage of, 97. 
Succeeds Don John, 142. Raises the 
siege of Cambray, 146. Besieges Ant- 
werp, 156. Summoned to France, 
1G5. Defeats Henry VI., 166. Re- 
tires to Spa, and is again summoned 
to France, 167. His death, ib. 

Philip the Fair, 45. 

Philip the Bold, 49. 

Philip of Cleves, 64. 

Philip of Burgundy, 54. Called the 
Good, 55. Death of, 56. 

Philip II. of Spain, 77. Ferocity of, 
79. Policy of, 80. His war with 
Henry II. of France and pcpe Paul 
IV., ib. His intrigues for despotic 
power, 82. Opposed by the States, 
84. Orders the edicts against heresy 
to be put in execution. 94. Duplicity 



of, 95. Establishes the inquisition, 
ib. Abolishes the inquisition, 106. 
Vindictiveness and duplicity of, 
110. Influences persons to attempt 
the assassination of the prince of 
Orange, 147. Negotiates for peace 
with France, 172. His death, 174. 

Picaroons, the, 168. 

Plague, the, breaks out, 127. 

Pragmatic sanction, 257. 

Pyrenees, peace of the, 238. 



auatre Bras, battle of, 290. 

R. 

Radbod, king of tiie Prisons, 26. 

Reformation, causes of its progress 
being checked, 89. 

Reformers divided into Anabaptists, 
Calvinists, and Lutherans, 103. 
Meet in every direction in arms, ib. 
Send an address to the governant, 
108. Compromise of, ib. Erect 
wooden churches, 110. Reginald 
and Lambert. (See Lambert.) 

Requesens successor to Alva, 126. 
Defeat of, 127. Sells his plate to pay 
the arrears of the soldiery, 128. 
Mutinous state of his army, ib. 
Fixes on Zealand as the scene of an 
expedition, 129. His death, 130. 

Richelieu, cardinal, death of, 222. 

Richilde, countess, 38. Defeat of, ib. 

Robert count of Namur, 34. 

Robert the Frison, 38. 

Rubens, 227. 

Ryhove, death of, 151. 

Ryswick, peace of, 250. 

S. 

Saxons, preponderating power of, 24. 

Schwarzemberg, 97. 

Schenck, Martin, 164. His death, 165. 

Sidney, Sir Philip, 160. His death, 161. 

Spinola takes the field against prince 
Maurice, 186. Sent with 20,000 
men to support the duke of Neu- 
bourg, 197. Defeat of. 211. Called 
to the command of the Spanish 
troops in Italy, 217. 

Stoutenbourg, William van, his re- 
vengeful plot against prince Mau- 
rice, 212. His escape to Brussels, 213. 

Strieker, Herman, 103. 

T. 

Termonde, conference at, 111. 
Thierry, count, governs the western 

extremity of Friesland, 36. Takes 

Godfrey prisoner, ib. 
Trees of Upstal, the, 39. 
Tromp, Van, victory of, 220. Naval 

engagement of, with admiral Blake, 

2.34. His death, 236. 



300 



INDEX. 



U. 

Utrecht, union of, 142. 

Utrecht, peace of, 256. 
V. 

Valenciennes, siege of, 112. Surren- 
der of, 113. 

Vanderdoes, Jean, burgomaster of 
Leyden, 128. 

Vander Noot establishes a committee 
at Breda, 265. His flight, 267. 

Vervins, peace of, 173. 

Viglius, president of the privy-coun- 
cil, 87. Opposes the rapacity of 
Alva, 122. 

Vonck aids the cause of constitu- 
tional freedom, 265. 

W. 

Waterloo, battle of, 291. 

Westphalia, peace of, 225. 

William the Bastard of Normandy, 
supplied with men and ships by 
Flanders, for the conquest of Eng- 
land, 37. 



William Frederick count of Nassau 
attempts to gain possession of Am- 
sterdam, 232. His death, 233. 

William V. proclaimed stadtholder 
260. Installation and marriage of, 
261. 

William prince of Orange saves his 
country, 244. Marriage of, 246. In- 
vades England, and is made king, 
248. His inveterate hostility to 
Louis XIV., 249. His death, 252. 

Willebrod, St., success as a mis- 
sionary, 27. 

Witikind, first azing or judge, ib. 

William I. prince-sovereign of the 
Netherlands, 282. 

Y. 

York, duke of, 268. Defeated by 
Pichegru, 269. 

Z. 

Zuriczee admits to surrender, 132. 



THE END 



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